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'11 IL'I (fix; “‘9 i . :a'w WILL I'- [W THi ms This is to certify that the thesis entitled MIDDLE ENGLISH VERSE ROMANCES: A PROBLEMATIC GENRE presented by Joanne Adrienne Rice has been accepted towards fulfillment of the requirements for Ph.D. Jegreein English L6 5L4 0 Majo [{ofes§or Date June 12, 1981 0-7639 _,_.__ _" __ .— .____’ ..——i llllllllllllllllllll ‘ L 3 1 173 OVERDUE FINES: 25¢ per day per item RETURNING LIBRARY MATERIALS: Place in book return to remove charge from circulation records MIDDLE ENGLISH VERSE ROMANCES: A PROBLEMATIC GENRE By Joanne Adrienne Rice A DISSERTATION Submitted to Michigan State University in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY Department of English 1981 C>Copyright by JOANNE ADRIENNE RICE 1981 ABSTRACT MIDDLE ENGLISH VERSE ROMANCES: A PROBLEMATIC GENRE By Joanne Adrienne Rice The word "romance" first appeared in the titles of the Middle English verse narratives in the early nineteenth- century editions of Ritson and Ellis. Since then, this label has been indiscriminately applied to this group of eighty- two diverse tales, which differ in length, rhyme scheme, date and area of composition, subject matter, intention, and meaning. Thus, critics have inevitably compared these works unfavorably to the French courtly romance in the tradition of Chrétien de Troyes. To determine the legitimacy of this criticism, I determined those qualities most commonly asso- ciated with medieval romance; my discussion in Chapter Two focuses on five criteria in particular: 1) the existence of supernatural, marvelous, and exotic motifs, 2) an interest in courtly love, 3) the adherence to a chivalric ethic, M) an emphasis on the individual as reflected by the new romance hero, and 5) the use of the quest pattern as a structuring principle. I then tested all the Middle English works against these criteria to determine whether they share the same qualities as other members of the medieval romance genre. Few of them do. Since the romance label is meaning- less for the majority of these works, they need a different system of classification freed from the preconceptions and Joanne Adrienne Rice expectations of romance. Chapter Three examines the generic labels in the manuscripts themselves to try to discover any obvious medieval sense of genre, but no coherent patterns emerge from this approach. Chapter Four reclassifies the works into five basic categories: 1) Popularized Pseudo- Histories, 2) Moral and Pietistic Tales, 3) Romance, A) Chi- valric Adventure Tales, and 5) Minstrel Tales. These groups of overlapping genres provide a means for better under- standing the intentions, narrative structure, point of View, and literary kinship of these Middle English verse narra- tives, which have too long been collapsed into a single genre that only obliquely describes most of them. To the Memory of William W. Heist (1910-1981) teacher, scholar, friend iii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I am deeply indebted to my family and friends for their continual inspiration and encouragement. I especially want to thank Janice and George Lauzon for their bed, board, and typewriter; Linda Conrad and Kevin Rosner for their moral support as well as invaluable help in translating several German texts; the Horne family for their many kindnesses over the years; and the members of my Doctoral Committee, especially Professor Howard Anderson for his outside in- sights. I am also grateful to the Department of English and the College of Arts and Letters at Michigan State Uni- versity, to the Inter-Library Loan Office at the Worcester Public Library, to the Bodleian Library of Oxford University for granting me access to a number of significant medieval manuscripts, and to the staff of the Middle English Dic- tionary at Ann Arbor, who kindly let me sift through their unpublished bibliographic slips. I also wish to thank the two men in my life who have been my best--and worst--critics. Professor John A. Yunck, my dissertation director and personal travel agent, has cheerfully sent me off on long excursions into unknown ter- ritories and gleefully booked me for this solitary and ar- duous journey, during which he occasionally met me enroute iv with fresh provisions and more up-to-date maps so that I might eventually arrive at a place remotely resembling my original destination. My husband Richard, despite his better judgement, also became entangled in this project and alter- nately despaired and reassured, cajoled and comforted. With- out his expert editing, two-fingered typing, and scrupulous standards, this dissertation would not have turned out so well as it did. I will always be grateful to them both. TABLE OF CONTENTS Chapter Page LIST OF TABLES . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .viii 1. INTRODUCTION. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 Notes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11 2. MEDIEVAL ROMANCE: ITS USUAL MEANINGS AND UNUSUAL MIDDLE ENGLISH MUTATIONS. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13 VExistence of Supernatural, Marvelous, and Exotic Motifs. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19 \interest in "Courtly Love". . . . . . . . . . . . . 32 dherence to the Chivalric Ethic. . . . . . . . 52 Emphasis on the Individual: The Romance Hero. . . . . 70 U86 of the Quest Pattern. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 90 A. Quest . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 95 B. Test/Reward . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 97 C. Sin/Punishment. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 99 D. Separation/Reunion. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 100 E. Exile/Return. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 101 F. Pseudo- histories. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 102 G. Miscellaneous patterns. . . . . . . . . . . . . 102 Discussion of Romance Criteria. . . . . . . . . ... . 106 Notes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 109 3. THE NARRATIVES NAME THEMSELVES. . . . . . . . . . . . 120 Notes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 138 vi Chapter A. CALLING THE WORKS BY THEIR RIGHT NAMES. . Popularized Pseudo-Histories. . . A. Legendary Histories B. Moralistic Histories. C. Romantic or Epic Histories. D. Militant Christian and Propagandistic Histories . Didactic and Pietistic Tales. A. Constance Legends B. Religious Exempla . C. Didactic Tales. D. Chivalric and Religious Composites. Romances. Chivalric Adventure Stories Minstrel Tales. A. Folk Tales. . . B. Political Moral Tales C. Breton Lays . . . D. Chivalric Ballads Notes . . . 5. CONCLUSION. . . . . . . . . . . . Notes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . APPENDICES A. GENERIC LABELS: B. GENERIC LABELS: C. FOUR VARIABLES OF COMPOSITION: DESCRIPTIVE WORD BIBLIOGRAPHY A. TEXTS. B. SCHOLARSHIP. . . . . . . vii CLASSIFIED BY WORK CLASSIFIED BY DESCRIPTIVE WORD CLASSIFIED BY Page 139 1110 um 1146 1149 152 15“ 156 157 160 162 165 166 168 169 17“ 177 179 182 188 196 198 210 22“ 238 21114 LIST OF TABLES Table Page 1. EXISTENCE OF SUPERNATURAL, MARVELOUS, AND EXOTIC MOTIFS. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23 2. INTEREST IN COURTLY LOVE. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 39 3. ABSENCE OF COURTLY LOVE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 50 A. ADHERENCE TO THE CHIVALRIC ETHIC. . . . . . . . . . . 56 5. VARIETIES OF HEROES . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 75 6. QUESTS AND OTHER STRUCTURAL PATTERNS. . . . . . . . . 92 7. SUBSTITUTION OF DESCRIPTIVE LABELS. . . . . . . . . . 135 8. RECLASSIFICATION OF MIDDLE ENGLISH NARRATIVES . . . . 1U1 viii CHAPTER ONE INTRODUCTION Ever since the word "romance" first appeared in the titles of the Middle English verse narratives edited by Ritson1 and Ellis2 in the early 1800s, it has been continu- ally and indiscriminately applied to this group of extremely diverse tales. The more-than-eighty Middle English narra- tives collectively known as romances encompass vastly dif- ferent metrical forms from the four-stress couplet and tail- rhyme stanza to the alliterative long line, cover subject matter as dissimilar as Charlemagne and Joseph of Aramathia, vary in length from 370 to 27852 lines, and span hundreds of years from the early thirteenth-century King Horn to the late fifteenth-century Romauns of Partenay. From the very start, the term "romance" had a certain vagueness, an unspecified generic sense. Originally, it only meant a work written in a Romance language, nothing more. In the early years of modern scholarship, however, the works constituting the genre of romance were defined by their differences from works in other established genres, rather than by any shared similarities. Certainly this loose principle of classification applies to Middle English narratives, which were lumped together presumably because 1 2 they were not exactly saints' legends, chronicles, fabliaux, or any other readily recognizable literary type. This obvi- ously troublesome hodgepodge within the romance genre has provoked general critical dissatisfaction, typified by How- ard Patch's recent comment that "it is hardly profitable, for critical purposes at least, to classify as romance every sort of literary production in the Middle Ages which will not fit in with the religious, didactic, or dramatic or sa- 3 tiric writings." Profitable or not, this is exactly what has happened. Critics have become increasingly uneasy about the label "romance" for this body of Middle English verse narratives and have attempted different, more desirable classifications. Almost all these studies begin with the explicit or implicit rejection of the traditional groupings of romance by matter, first propounded by George Ellis in his Specimens of Early English Metrical Romance.“ His classification, in turn, was based on Jean Bodel's twelfth-century classification for med- ieval French romances into the now-famous three mati§resz 5 The Mid- "De France et de Bretaigne et de Rome la grant." dle English romances fit this scheme so unsatisfactorily, however, that a fourth mati§re had to be invented to salvage the system. But the inadequacy of this fourth matiére, the matter of England, as a catchall category is immediately ev- ident: This classification, where it is not obviously use- less, as it is in dismissing twenty-three of the fifty romances under discussion as 'miscellaneous1, 3 can be actually misleading where it lumps together quite dissimilar romances because 8f some superfi- cial coincidence of plot material. The absurdity of classification only by matter becomes obvious when comparing stories with the same subject. For example, Middle English versions of the King Arthur story range from the bland Arthur, thankfully only 6A2 lines, to the impressive Morte Arthure, an alliterative work of epic proportions with “3&6 lines. For all practical purposes, the figure of Arthur himself is the only common element in these two works and reveals nothing of the essence of either. Another example of the unsatisfactory nature of this crite— rion by matter is the legend of Robert the Devil, which oc- curs in the Middle English Sir Gowther, and which resurfaces in different guises in a French pantomime, a ballet, a mys- tére, a ballad, and even a grand opera.7 Similarly, the sub- ject matter of the Middle English Emare appears in many unex- pected forms: a chronicle, a chanson ge_ge§te, a didactic poem, a miracle play, and a chapbook story.8 Even when two Middle English versifiers use not only the same subject, but also the same source materials, two startlingly different works may result. Ipomedon A and Ipomedon B illustrate this. As Dieter Mehl points out, "any story can be completely transformed in the process of being told and new forms can be created which have hardly anything in common with their 9 sources." Quite clearly then, subject matter alone can never provide a basis for coherent generic classification. Classification by basic story type has also failed. ii For example, Laura Hibbard Loomis, in her otherwise thorough and indispensable book-length study, divides many of the ro- mances into three broad categories: "Romances of Trial and Faith" (ten Middle English works), "Romances of Legendary English Heroes" (nine poems), and "Romances of Love and Ad- venture" (twenty narratives).1O Her decision to group to- gether romances dealing with the same kind of story forces her to ignore more important considerations, such as narra- tive structure, the author's intentions and treatment of theme, the work's meaning, as well as other poetic matters—- in fact, almost everything that makes a narrative worthwhile as a literary work. Content is not usually the determining factor in defining literary genres, and this is especially true for the romance genre, which borrows heavily from tradi- tional motifs and popular materials. Thus it is not at all surprising that this criterion too fails completely. The only other book-length attempt at classifying these Middle English narratives is Dieter Mehl's comprehensive and lucid study.11 However, after pointing out all the virtu- ally insurmountable difficulties in earlier methodological approaches, Mehl still retains the generic label. Length then becomes his criterion in defining the romances as he carefully subdivides the works into "Shorter Romances I," "Shorter Romances II," "Homiletic Romances," "Longer Roman- ces," and finally "Novels in Verse." Other comprehensive genre studies are rare. Intimi- dated by such an awkward and recalcitrant body of narratives, 5 most critics ignore the basic generic question and limit themselves to the study of single works or subgroups. For example, Trounce's work on tail—rhyme romances12 and Oakden's 13 on alliterative romances concentrate on characterizing a number of works related by rhyme scheme. While it is easy to criticize past attempts at classifi- cation for singling out and emphasizing superficial or acci- dental attributes, it is more difficult to formulate new categories broad enough to include the majority of these narratives, yet narrow enough to indicate something specific about them. So far, every such attempt at generic classifi- cation has failed. Although literary critics and cultural historians have undeniably provided us with indispensable insights into many of the Middle English texts, they have also rendered us a considerable disservice in their natural human desire for order by forcing these works into a category that is not wholly satisfactory even for French romances. The question remains. Do these Middle English narra- tives properly constitute a single genre? Paul Strohm1u and 15 John Finlayson have recently attempted answers to this question, with Finlayson concluding that over half the Middle English romances do not in any way meet the paradigms proposed; that is, they are not romance in any meaningful sense, though this is not to deny that they occa- sionally exhibit charagteristics which are to be found in the romance. This generic problem is a serious one. Once these Mid- dle English texts are labeled "romances," they are 6 automatically judged by criteria appropriate to and defined by generic ideas that have evolved mainly from the study of twelfth-century French courtly romances, which do not neces- sarily have much in common with narratives written in a dif- ferent country, time, and language and for a different audi- ence. In the study of Middle English romance, it is crucial to remember the historical fact that romance sprang up in France in the "gap between a generally evolving social, eco— nomic and cultural scene and the disappearance of a morally and psychologically satisfying rationale for knightly exis— 17 tence." These peculiarly French circumstances do not apply to England's later history, and the compelling and complex reasons for the rise of romance in France have no significant bearing on the later English narratives. These historical facts are often forgotten, however, when critics, mistakenly assuming a continuous tradition, compare Middle English verse romances with the great French romances in the tradition of Chrétien de Troyes. This crit- ical attitude is understandable, perhaps even inevitable, since most of the Middle English works were written after the flowering of the best French romances. Cries of "bad imitation" and "incompetent handling" are not altogether unexpected, since the English writers, compared to their French counterparts, failed to appreciate the possibilities of development in their stories, and their treatment of source materials was obviously "misconceived and misap- "18 plied. English hacks were still churning out bad romances 7 after the rest of Europe had gone on to other, and presumably better, literary endeavors. Or so it may seem. It is there- fore not at all surprising that the history of the Middle English romance has usually been described as one of "popular debasement" with even its earliest forms manifesting an unde- sirable decadence.19 The underlying assumption behind much of this negative criticism is that Middle English writers attempted to write French romances, but failed miserably in their feeble at- tempts at imitation. Instead of judging these English works as failures because they do not fulfill the generic expecta- tions of French romance, we need to re-examine the Middle English narratives without the preconceptions that originally forced them into such an unsatisfactory categorization. Before evaluating a work of art, critics should first try to understand it. This seems obvious, but is frequently overlooked. For Middle English verse narratives, this is more difficult, because they are shrouded in mystery: we seldom know who composed them, how or where they were com— posed, who their audience was, or even whether some works are originals or translations of lost French or Anglo-Norman sources. Because these critical questions remain unanswered and are perhaps ultimately unanswerable, critics have mistak- enly tried to evaluate these works according to the stan- dards and expectations imposed by the strictures of French romance. E. D. Hirsch underscores the inevitable effect of generic preconceptions on all literary study: 8 an interpreter's preliminary generic conception of a text is constitutive of everything he subse- quently understands, and this remains the case unless and until that generic conception is al- tered.2 Applying a preconceived romance genre to these works presents a real and practical danger, which John Reichert describes as the consigning to a work the traits of a genre prior to the demonstration that the whole work really belongs to it, and the ignoring of effects achieved in the work but not anticipated by the definition of the genre.2 Thus once the reader accepts the romance genre as the only-- or even the best--possible way of understanding these works, he focuses his critical attention on the traits that fit the definition of romance and either ignores or downplays those that do not. I try to circumvent this problem in the follow- ing chapters. After first summarizing in Chapter Two the qualities most commonly attributed to medieval romance by modern critics, I then measure the Middle English works against these criteria to determine whether they do in fact share the same qualities as true representatives of the medieval romance genre. Few of them do. The romance label is thus misleading and ultimately meaningless for most of these nar— ratives. But then if they are not romances, what are they? In Chapter Three I try to answer this question by examining what the narratives call themselves as a possible means of understanding the medieval sense of genre. The data col- lected from more than seventy Middle English texts, however, 9 provides no coherent patterns in the use of such descriptive words as "tale," "romance," "tretis," "boke," "vita," "geste," and "story." In fact, many of the terms seem to be interchangeable as variant manuscript readings show. Chapter Four offers new alternative classifications for the narra- tives that are not romances. Through these groupings of sim- ilar works, the modern reader is able to see the wide spec- trum of overlapping genres necessary for understanding these Middle English works. Finally, Chapter Five summarizes the results of this investigation and points to the need for fur- ther study of this currently ill-defined body of Middle Eng- lish poems. This dissertation deals only with verse narratives. I have purposely excluded La3amon's Brut since it clearly be- longs to a historical tradition and is not primarily a ro- mance. I have also excluded Chaucer's poems in the romance tradition for two reasons. First, no individual tale in the Canterbury Tales is intended to stand by itself as a complete work; too much of the meaning and value of the Tales depends on the interrelationships among the tales and their tellers. Second, a poet of Chaucer's stature is never typical of his age, and his treatment of the romance tradition differs mark- edly and significantly from all other English writers. He twists conventions for his own subtle, sophisticated poetic ends. Lastly, I have excluded all the Scottish verse narra- tives, which, although from a similar tradition, differ sig- nificantly from the works studied here. I have included all 10 other Middle English verse narratives mentioned in A Manual gf the Writings 12 Middle English.22 The spellings of the titles of the Middle English narra- tives throughout this dissertation conform to those in this manual, except for the following: Alexander A, Alexander B, and Alexander E, which Severs refers to as Alisaunder (Allit- erative Fragment A), Alexander and Dindimus (Alliterative Fragment B), and Wars 9: Alexander (Alliterative Fragment C); Ipomedon A and Ipomedon B, which he refers to as Ipomadon and Lyfe gf Ipomydon; and Destruction gfi Troy, which he calls Gest Historiale gfi the Destruction g£ Troy. My references to the Alexander fragments are shorter, more convenient, and more familiar than Severs' titles. Ipomedon A and Ipomedon B have become the accepted designations among modern scholars for these two works. In the case of Destruction 2L Troy, the phrase "Gest Historiale" was added by nineteenth-century edi- tors, a reflection of a mistaken and imported generic sense not found in any of the medieval manuscripts. NOTES 1J. Ritson, Ancient English Metrical Romances, 3 vols. (London, 1802). 2George Ellis, Specimens of Early English Metrical Romances, 3 vols. (London, 1805)? 3Howard R. Patch, "Chaucer and Medieval Romance," in Essays 12 Memory 9i Barrett Wendell By His Assistants (Cam- bridge: Harvard Univ. Press, 1926), p. 100. “Ellis, pp. 3—A. 5Jean Bodel, Ag Chanson des Saxons, ed. Francisque Michel (Paris, 1839; rpt. Geneva: Slatkin, 1969), l. 7. 6Derek Pearsall, "The Development of Middle English Romance," Medieval Studies, 27 (1965), 96. See also Dieter Mehl, The Middle English Romances 9: the Thirteenth and Four- teenth Centuries (London: Routledge & Kegan Paul, 1969), especially pp. 31-33. 7Laura Hibbard Loomis, Medieval Romance 12 England (New York: Oxford Univ. Press, 192A), p. 50. Mortimer Donovan, The Breton Lay (Notre Dame: Univ. of Notre Dame Press, 1969), p. 216. 9 Mehl, p. 32. OLoomis, "Table of Contents." 11Mehl. 12A. McI. Trounce, "The English Tail-Rhyme Romances," MAE, 1 (1932), 87-108, 168—82; MAE, 2 (1933). 3u—57, 189-98; MAE, 3 (193A), 30-50. 13J. P. Oakden, Alliterative Poetry 22 Middle English (Manchester: Manchester Univ. Press, 1930-35). 1“Paul Strohm, "The Origin and Meaning of Middle English Romaunce," Genre, 10 (1977), 1—28. 15 John Finlayson, "Definitions of Middle English 11 12 Romance," Chaucer Review, 15 (1980), AH-62, 168-81. 6Finlayson, p. 178. 17Peter Haidu, "Introduction," in Approaches £2 Medieval Romance, Yale French Studies, N. 51, ed. Peter Haidu (New Haven: Yale French Studies, 197“), p. 3. For further discus- sion of romance as part of a larger social and intellectual change, see also Eugene Vinaver, Rise g£ Romance (Oxford: Oxford Univ. Press, 1971), especially pp. 1-13; W. P.,Ker, Epic and Romance (London, 1896; rpt. New York: Dover, 1957), pp. 321-27; R. W. Southern, The Making of the Middle Ages (New Haven: Yale Univ. Press, 1953), pp. 219-57. 18George Kane, Middle English Literature (London: Methuen, 1951), p. 112. 19A. C. Gibbs, Middle English Romances (Evanston: North-‘ western Univ. Press, 1966), p. 151. 20E. D. Hirsch, Jr., Validity £2 Interpretation (Chicago: Univ. of Chicago Press, 1976), p. 7A. 21John Reichert, "More Than Kin and Less Than Kind: The Limits of Genre Theory," in Theories 9: Literary Genre, ed. Joseph Strelka (University Park: Penn. State Univ. Press, 1978), p. 6H. 22J. Burke Severs, ed., A Manual 2E the Writings 12 Middle English, Fascicule I (New Haven: Conn. Acad. of Arts and Sciences, 1967). CHAPTER TWO MEDIEVAL ROMANCE: ITS USUAL MEANINGS AND UNUSUAL MIDDLE ENGLISH MUTATIONS Since the romance genre now includes works like Nathan- iel Hawthorne's House gi Seven Gables, Charlotte Bronte's Jane Eyre, and the insipid, yet popular, Harlequin romances, all of which have been colored by the European movement of romanticism, as well as by the Gothic and sentimental novels of the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, it is necessary to distinguish between medieval and modern romance. With at least five centuries of accretions, the modern notion of ro- mance is naturally quite different from the medieval notion; medieval romance had its own criteria, expectations, and cus- tomary motifs, which are not today's. Thus, for this study of Middle English romance, it is essential to recapture the medieval sense of romance. However, even within this more historical perspective, there are problems. Modern literary critics have questioned the legitimacy of medieval romance as a genre: "Romance is one of the most abused generic terms of medieval literature. For a good many scholars it serves as a commodious bottom drawer which will hold almost anything that could not be stored elsewhere."1 Nonetheless, modern scholars have found 13 1A much to say about this genre despite, and probably because of, the problems inherent in classifying medieval literature. An influential early study, W. P. Ker's now famous E212 and Romance, attacks the problem of classification and defi- nition through contrast. For Ker, medieval romance could best be understood by an oblique approach through epic liter- ature. Because he clearly favors the epic, Ker tends to de— fine romance in negative terms, as literature marking a tran- sition from the "heroic age" of the more noble epic.2 Despite his bias, Ker does summarize some of romance's most notable traits: it emphasizes courtly elements and love moti: vafiign) conveys mystery and fantasy, and centers on the ad- ventures of a lone knight who unexpectedly meets and fights another_knight in the customary forestiét} Ker's approach to romance through epic quickly became the traditional one. R. W. Southeng, another eminent r...— scholar, continues Ker's methodology by approaching romance as a phenomenon of the chivalric age, which reflects "the, spirit of the time.£§) He too focuses on the great intellec- tual changes from the heroic to the chivalric age, embodied best perhaps in the theological and philosophical thought of Sts. Anselm and Bernard of Clairvaux with their emphasis on the individual and his solitary search for salvation. Ac- cording to Southern, these prevailing religious and intellec- tual ideas were translated into the new romance movement in literature with the individual at its center and the quest as a secular substitute for the religious journey towards God.5 15 Even Euggne Vinaver, an authority on medieval French romance, echoes the words of Ker and Southern concerning the heroic and chivalric ages: Love interest and the pursuit of adventures unre- lated to any common aim thus displaced the theme of the defence of Christendom and the preoccupation with feudal warfare; and the new genre, breaking decisively with all varieties of the old epic tra- dition, made the dévision between the heroic and the chivalric agesmfi Charles Baldwin approaches the distinction between epic and romance in yet another way. He contrasts epic's impulse 7 but towards realism with romance's impulse towards idealism, this distinction raises more questions than it answers by in- troducing two additional controversial terms like "realism" and "idealism." Even despite this objection, Baldwin's con- trast hardly seems appropriate since it is fairly easy to see idealizing impulses in the epic, especially in the treatment of the hero with his formalized, idealized qualities, and just as easy to see realistic tendencies throughout the ro- mance in terms of character motivation, as well as in the concrete, pictorial, and realistic details drawn from con- temporary life.8 Other critical approaches, still maintaining the dichot- omy between epic and romance, emphasize the intended audience and certain plot elements. For example, Nathaniel Griffin distinguishes epic's credible martial story from romance's incredible amorous one. According to his perspective, epic with its essentially warlike theme is a virile narrative, fit for the mead hall, with love and adventure as incidentals to 16 the story's essentially serious nature. Romance, on the other hand, is feminine literature, fit more for a lady's bower, intended for the relaxation and amusement of mixed 9 society. In a similar way, D. M. Hill notes the change from mar- tial epic to amorous romance and argues that romance broadens the interests of epic and tests relationships between indi— viduals in a greater variety of circumstances.10 Bloomfield also recognizes this apparent shift in narrative emphasis: In subject matter, love is a driving force and a source of fascination in the romance, an element if not lacking, at least subordinate, in the epic. War and combat are the main concerns of epic, whereas in romance, this subject of perpetual in- terest is supplemented by love intrigues, espe— cially in a courtly love context. Bloomfield, however, adds that the ultimate distinguishing feature of romance is its irrational, unmotivated episode, which is closely related to the sense of mystery, marvelous, and supernatural found in many medieval romances.12 From this brief survey of past scholarship, it becomes clear that critics have been preoccupied with a deliberate contrast between romance and epic, an approach that can be misleading. The forced opposition between the two genres leads to overstatement and oversimplification, as Eugene Vinaver's comment demonstrates: It is, of course, true that the heroes of romance "seek solitude for the exercise of their essential virtue" much in the same way as the Cistercians did; but it is also true that in Old French liter- ature this solitary quest is not a prerogative of romance: it exists in such works as The Life of St. 9 Alexis and The Voyage 9£_§£. Brendan as well—5s_— 17 some of the epics. To say that epic heroes are "circumscribed by their ties of lordship and vas- salage and by the sacred bond of comradeship" is to single out one of the features which may seem to distinguish them from the heroes of romance; in reality, the same "ties" and the samg "bond" exist in the world of Arthurian chivalry. The two genres share other obvious similarities as well. Nathaniel Griffin points out that both are metrical narra- tives, both deal with heroic adventure and achievement, and both are conscious creations by professional court poets for 1“ an aristocratic audience. Yet Griffin too overstates the similarities. Medieval romance was something new, something other than epic, which critics have finally begun discussing. For example, French and Hale, in their 1930 edition of Middle English romances, state that the peculiarities of medieval romance are: W. T. H. the presence of women as principal actors, the prominence of love as a motive for activity, the exaltation of honor and courage, an insistence on the superiority of courtesy to rudeness, a senti- mental belief in the paradox of feudal loyalty, and a frank enthusiasm for the unreal and fanciful as it came to them from other literatures. Jackson also gives a definition of sorts: The romance as a genre developed a life of its own and certain rules by which its deliberately unreal life was to be governed. It also pursued as its principal motifs the pointless combat and love- service, both of no significance in a socially ori- ented genre. . . . the great writers of romance chose, for the most part, to study individual be- havior by setting it in the unreal world of romance and showing how, by rising above the rules of the genre, the human being could fulfill himseéf, for the romance is a genre of the individual. Rather than dogmatically assert a rigid definition of the genre, Gillian Beer pinpoints the following cluster of 18 properties: the themes of love and adventure, a certain with— drawal from their own societies on the part of both reader and romance hero, profuse sensuous detail, simplified characters, a serene intermingling of the unexpected and the everyday, a complex and pro- longed succession of incidents usually without a single climax, a happy ending, amplitude of propor- tions, a strongly enforced code of conduct to which all the characters must comply.1 Since complete and adequate definitions of medieval ro- mance are rare, a sense of the genre may best be obtained by abstracting and consolidating the ideas most commonly ex- pressed by modern critics. For the sake of convenience, “Can-’J“ 1 these common elements may be classified as:'(1) the existence of supernatural, marvelous, or exotic motifs, giving rise to a sense of unreality and mystery; (2) an interest in "courtly love," emphasizing the importance.of women; (3) an adherence to the chivalric ethic, controlling the characters' moral sphere of conduct; (4) an emphasis on the individual, reflec- ting a new kind ofprotagonist-fthe romance hero; and (5) the use of the quest pattern, permeating the narratives as a .. IAJ-" ’ “ ' “—"‘ "aha-1M J basic structurafllu.uprincipfllme-ZwJ Although the choice of these five characteristics is to some extent arbitrary and they certainly overlap each other, these categories nevertheless represent a broad perspective on the genre. The first ele- ment, possibly the least important though one of the most talked about, deals specifically with literary motifs. The next three elements account for the genre's particular philo— sophical biases and principles, while the last element satis- fies the structuralist's demand for a common pattern 19 underlying all members of a generic class. If these five characteristics help define the genre of medieval romance, then the Middle English texts that are cur- rently labeled "romance" should share these attributes. The rest of this chapter then focuses on each of the five ele- ments separately and tests the Middle English works against each criterion to determine whether "romance" is a legitimate label for all these narratives. EXISTENCE OF SUPERNATURAL, MARVELOUS, AND EXOTIC MOTIFS M. A. Owing views these motifs as an extrinsic element of medieval narrative: There had to be elements of the unreal, the myster- ious, the supernatural, in order to raise them to the level of romance literature. Consequently, the writers included elements designed to excite the admirattgn, to enhance the imagination of the reader. This seems curious, as though medieval romance writers pos— sessed an uncanny prescience for Ideal Romance and then craftily grafted onto their plots the necessary elements to metamorphose their ordinary, mundane narratives into Wondrous Romance. Yet Owing is right in alluding to a sense of mys— tery somehow "inherent in the subject matter."19 Often, the motifs in medieval narratives are foreign or exotic. In fact, many of the supernatural elements-—magic rings and ointments, transformations of humans into animal shapes, fairy mistresses and journeys to the Other World-—came di- rectly or indirectly from Celtic or Eastern story materials. 20 Historically, the incidence of the supernatural and marvelous in French and English narratives can be explained by Western Europe's new contacts with exotic cultures through trade, wandering minstrels, religious pilgrims, and Crusaders.2O The marvelous, however, was not the exclusive domain of medieval romance, contrary to what many critics imply. Mar- vels abounded in other contemporary writing as well, espe- cially in saints' legends, historical accounts, allegories, and folklore. Because the marvelous elements were well-known and well—liked devices available to all medieval writers, who seemed to take almost compulsive delight in exploiting them, marvels per se cannot help define romance. Moreover, the marvelous took many different forms in romance. John Stevens differentiates four of them: the sim- ply exotic (a remote, foreign, or strange setting or inci- dents), the purely mysterious (the unmotivated, inexplicable, or unexplained), the strictly magical (marvels controlled by man, such as magic rings, ointments, potions), and the truly marvelous (events controlled by God).21 The separation of the exotic from the marvelous is especially important for the many Middle English writers who merely invest their narrative with an exotic background for its own sake. This "exotic- ness" is essentially different from the mysterious and mar- velous in the best French and German romances. Indeed, the "unreality" of Continental romances has been called "the first principle of the romance genre."22 Para— doxically, this unreality becomes a way of dealing with 21 reality by removing experience from the ordinary world, by 23 making the familiar unfamiliar. W. M. Dixon, however, sim- plifies romance's use of unreality to a mere distancing tech- nique: "The wonder and mystery of it, the secret of the charm hide in its remoteness from the world we know."214 Although true, Dixon's claim stresses the simple and charming unreal- ity of romance's fairy-tale world. More important is the serious nature of romance, perhaps best described as a pre- 25 psychological method of measuring and defining man. This special, almost ethereal quality is what Henry James identi- fies as experience liberated: The only general attribute of projected romance that I can see, the only one that fits all its causes, is the fact of the kind of experience with which it deals--experience liberated, so to speak; experience disengaged, disembroiled, disencumbered, exempt from the conditions that we usually know to attach to it and, if we wish so to put the matter, drag upon it. . . . The romantic stands, on the other hand, for the things that with all the facil- ities in the world, all the wealth and all the courage and all the wit and all the adventure, we never ggg_directly know; the things that can reach us only through the beautiful circuég and subter- fuge of our thought-and our desire. If the marvelous is essential to romance in allowing the play of imagination, in distancing the audience from reality and involving them in a remote world where human values are actually being tested, then many of the Middle English narra- tives are not romances. Middle English poets overwhemingly tend to "suppress entirely or subdue the play of illogical 27 imagination found in the original." As Dorothy Everett says, marvels are usually presented so matter—of—factly that any air of mystery and glamour is almost totally lacking.28 22 It even seems as though the power of some of the English works is directly tied to the intentional suppression of the supernatural elements as Anne Thompson Lee points out in con- nection with A3 Bone Florence 9A Rome: "The added coherence and realism of the English version, which was gained through the deliberate suppression of supernatural elements, emerge with particular clarity."29 Table 1 presents the Middle English works according to the presence or absence of some of the most notable features of the marvelous. From this listing, it becomes apparent that there is no particular consistency in the medieval Eng- lish treatment of the marvelous. There is no trace whatso- ever of any of the elements in at least thirteen of the works (Table 1, A). Many others have a remote setting that distances the narrative from the audience (Table 1, B), al- though it is doubtful whether this remoteness alone should be considered "marvelous" since the setting is seldom exploited for its marvelous qualities. Usually, it is merely the bat- tleground where militant Christians defeat the infidel dogs, or the land where strange and marvelous creatures exist. In these narratives, the use of setting is fairly consistent; authenticity or the aura of historicity is far more important than fantasy. Like exotic settings, giants and dragons are commonplace in many of the narratives (Table 1, C), and, not surpris- ingly, their role is not an intrinsic part of the marvelous either. As foils to the hero's strength, prowess, and 23 Table 1 EXISTENCE OF SUPERNATURAL, MARVELOUS, AND EXOTIC MOTIFS A. Works that contain no marvels or miracles: \OCDQCDU'IJI-‘WN-fi 10. 11. 12. 13. Avowynge of King Arthur Cambridge Alexander-Cassamus Fragment Gamelyn Horn Child Ipomedon A Ipomedon B Jeaste of Syr Gawayne King Horn Lai 1e Freine Sir Degrevant Sir Triamour Song of Roland Squyr of Lowe Degre B. Works that contain a remote, exotic setting: ...; OKOCDNO‘UT-II’UUN-J .4...) N—s I O 13. .3...) U712: 16. 17. 18. 19. 20. 21. 22. 23. 2A. 25. 26. 27. 28. Amis and Amiloun Amoryus and Cleopes Ashmole Sir Firumbras Bevis of Hampton Bone Florence of Rome Cambridge Alexander-Cassamus Fragment Destruction of Troy Earl of Toulous Emare Fillingham Firumbras Floris and Blancheflur Guy of Warwick Ipomedon A Ipomedon B King of Tars Laud Troy Book Lyfe of Alisaunder Octavian Otuel a Knight Richard Coer de Lyon Seege of Troye Siege of Jerusalem Sir Eglamour of Artois Sir Gowther Sir Torrent of Portyngale Sir Tristrem Sowdon of Babylon Titus and Vespasian 2“ Table 1 (cont'd.) C. Works that contain giants and dragons: 44—3—1 WN—‘OkomNOWU'TJI-‘WNA 1H. 16 17. 18. 19. 20. 21. _\ U1 22. 23. 24. 25. 26. D. c...1-'-:J‘OQH3(DQ.OO’DJ Arthour and Merlin Arthur Ashmole Sir Firumbras Bevis of Hampton Fillingham Firumbras Guy of Warwick King Horn Knight of Curtesy and the Fair Lady of Faguell Laud Troy Book Libeaus Desconus Lyfe of Alisaunder Morte Arthur Morte Arthure Octavian Partonope of Blois Richard Coer de Lyon Roland and Vernagu Romauns of Partenay Sir Degare Sir Eglamour of Artois Sir Perceval of Galles Sir Torrent of Portyngale Sir Triamour Sir Tristrem Sowdon of Babylon Turke and Gowin Works that use the miraculous: Prophecies: Arthour and Merlin Awntyrs off Arthur Joseph of Arimathie Morte Arthure Octavian Sege of Melayne Intervention by God or angels: Amis and Amiloun Chevalere Assigne Havelok Joseph of Arimathie Otuel and Roland Richard Coer de Lyon Roberd of Cisyle Sege of Melayne Sir Gowther Sir Isumbras LA) C‘U'IJI-‘WN—é Sal—'wuH-D‘OQHJCDQOUW rzj \OCIDNONWJ'IWN-A 25 Table 1 (cont'd.) Miracles: Amoryus and Cleopes Ashmole Sir Firumbras Athelston Bevis of Hampton Bone Florence of Rome Chevalere Assigne Fillingham Firumbras Guy of Warwick Joseph of Arimathie King of Tars Laud Troy Book Lyfe of Alisaunder Otuel and Roland Richard Coer de Lyon Roberd of Cisyle Roland and Vernagu Seege of Troye Sege of Melayne Siege of Jerusalem Siege of Thebes Sir Cleges Sir Gowther Sowdon of Babylon Titus and Vespasian Troy Book Works that use the Other World: Generides Partonope of Blois Romauns of Partenay Sir Degare Sir Launfal Sir Orfeo Works that use magic: Carle off Carlile Grene Knight Libeaus Desconus Sir Degare Sir Perceval of Galles Syre Gawene and the Carle of Carelyle Turke and Gowin Weddynge of Sir Gawen and Dame Ragnell William of Palerne 26 Table 1 (cont'd.) G. Works that use the marvelous and mysterious: 13 ..s—s—s N—‘OKOCIDNOUTJZ‘WNA _s .t: 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 2A 25 26 27 28 29 3O 31 32 33 3A 35 36 O O O O O O C O O O C O O O O O O O C Alexander A Alexander B Alexander C Arthour and Merlin Arthur Awntyrs off Arthur Carle off Carlile Chevalere Assigne Destruction of Troy Eger and Grime Emare Generides Grene Knight Havelok Laud Troy Book Libeaus Desconus Lyfe of Alisaunder Merlin Morte Arthur Octavian Partonope of Blois Romauns of Partenay Siege of Thebes Sir Amadace Sir Degare Sir Eglamour of Artois Sir Gawain and the Green Knight Sir Isumbras Sir Launfal Sir Torrent of Portyngale Sir Tristrem Syre Gawene and the Carle of Carelyle Turke and Gowin Weddynge of Sir Gawen and Dame Ragnell William of Palerne Ywain and Gawain 27 bravery, they become simply another form of exaggeration. Just as only the most beautiful women are worthy of the hero's love, only the most formidable enemies are worthy of his wrath. Giants are bigger and stronger than any human adversary; dragons are more ferocious. Defeating such oppo- nents elevates the hero above ordinary men. Thus giants and dragons for the most part are simply part of a story's ma- chinery and serve no magical function. Even in Arthour and Merlin, where dragons are not combatants against a militant knight, but symbols by which Merlin establishes his authority as a prophet, they are still not an element of the marvelous that helps define romance. In another set of narratives (Table 1, D1), prophecies or visions seem to be the sole indication of any mysterious elements, but these visions are not usually presented as mar- velous or mysterious experiences. They serve a definite nar- rative function in helping the author create suspense or move the story's focus backward or forward. In Awntyrs off Ag— BEBE» however, Guinever's mother, a frightening apparition, conveys a sense of wonder, mystery, and awe as she delivers her prophetic message of the collapse of the Round Table. Thus this narrative does satisfy the first criterion of ro- mance--the existence of supernatural, marvelous, or exotic motifs. Other narratives include miracles or the direct inter— vention of God (Table 1, D2, D3). In all these religious narratives, the miraculous is a form of the supernatural, 28 i.e., God manifests his power and authority on earth through angels, miracles, and other heavenly signs, such as conver— sion of the heathens.3O In two narratives, however, an angel or devil plays an essential role in the action and meaning of the story. In Sir Gowther, the devil impregnates the Duke of Estryke's wife and fathers Gowther, who then struggles against his fiendish patrimony. Only through religious con- version and penance does Gowther finally triumph. Similarly, Roberd 9E Cisyle also involves penance and forgiveness. King Robert, personally guilty of pride and doubting God's power, is stripped of his kingship by an angel, who assumes his identity and rule until he repents and is finally restored to the throne. Both these religious narratives go beyond the use of the supernatural merely as manifestations of God's will, presenting instead complex human drama interwoven with elements of the marvelous. Just as these religious and didactic works use a dimen- sion outside the realm of normal experience, other narratives use figures from the Celtic Other World (Table 1, E). The logic of the former set of works is God, who, according to his law, metes out reward, retribution, salvation, or damna- tion. In the latter works, however, there is no explanation, either human or divine. Strange or unusual events are truly marvelous precisely because there is no apparent motivation. In three of the works (Sir Launfal, Romauns g: Partenay, and Partonope gfi Blois), the protagonist takes a lover from the Other World, which is essentially a dream fulfillment or 29 fantasy land. This popular motif of a fairy lover also seems to influence some of the narrative elements in Generides: a magic hart leads Aufreus to the castle of Sereyne, who resem- bles a fairy mistress with magical power. Although there are no direct references to the Other World, its magic and wonder cling to this narrative. In Sir Degare, a fairy knight rav- ishes a princess who happened to fall asleep under the fate- ful chestnut tree, but here he has few wonderful traits. He has no special power, no magic, and no real connection to the Other World. In fact, the motif is gratuitous, merely a con- venient device for beginning the story's motley plot. gig QEEEQ changes the Other World motif even more. From the usual attractive haven for lovers, it becomes a prison sepa- rating Orfeo and Heurodis, the pair of true lovers. Another narrative motif, the bewitching or magic spell, is explicit in nine works (Table 1, F). Usually, a character endures ordeals or passes tests, hints of old initiation rites. Indeed, in all these works, the hero's social or mar- tial strengths break the magic spells. Other kinds of magical or mysterious incidents, unre- lated to religious miracles, the Other World, or enchant- ments, occur in many Middle English narratives (Table 1, G). In Havelok, for example, the marvelous, which consists of a miraculous light issuing from Havelok's mouth and his other royal marks, insures a specific end, Havelok's assumption of the throne. In Libeaus Desconus, on the other hand, magic seems incidental. The hero's year-long dalliance with the 30 lady of the Isle D'Or is excused simply because she worked her magic arts on him, and once the spell is broken, he re- turns to his quest with his original single-mindedness. The episode serves no recognizable purpose in the narrative and only attests to the popularity of magic as a crowd pleaser. Chevalere Assigne, with its obvious religious overtones, uses mysterious, as well as miraculous elements. An aura of mystery surrounds the birth of Beatrice's septuplets with silver chains around their necks since the audience knows only that the births are a punishment for her claim that dif- ferent men fathered a peasant woman's twins. The equally strange and inexplicable transformation of the children into swans also contributes to the fairy-tale atmosphere of this work. In Ywain and Gawain, the fountain, magic ring, ointment, and the wonderful lion-companion are all elements of the mar- velous. This narrative--along with several others, such as William 9; Palerne and Sir Gawain and the Green Knight-- creates an aura of mystery and charm that characterizes the best French romances: Indeed the whole workmanship of Ywain and Gawain is smoothly directed in maintaining the spell which this romance casts from the first moment of the suspension of disbelief. That spell is also re- markable in this sense that, although it is unique in its nature among the English romances it never- theless carries the suggestion that here we hag? the true and ideal effect of the romance kind. Sir Gawain and the Green Knight also casts a magic spell, despite the author's deliberate undercutting of his own creations and conventions. For example, he twists the 31 typical mysterious challenger, usually a rude knight or heathen, into the Green Knight, who combines elements of the Wild Man; the Green Man, who is a descendant of the Vegeta- tion God; and the courtly chivalric knight.32 In addition, the author converts the beheading, the typical convention for breaking an enchantment and ending a story, into a challenge at the story's beginning, and thus for an audience accustomed to this device, the beheading becomes even more mysterious and marvelous. Gawain's journey to the green chapel only hints at the Other World without ever developing the implica- tions of that motif. The author again manipulates the audi- ence's expectations by turning the "idea of the talisman of invulnerability inside out" as the girdle is "not the reason "33 for his survival, but the reason for his injury. Although the Middle English narratives use the exotic, marvelous, and miraculous motifs in different ways, most of them do not convey any sense of wonder, awe, or mystery. In many, supernatural occurrences serve specifically religious or didactic ends; the miraculous is often exploited for di- dacticism rather than wonder. In yet other works, the super- natural or marvelous is excised. In the alliterative Mg§§§_ Arthure, for example, the mystery of the trip to Avalon with all its mystic trappings is gone, and the poem instead ends with a description of Arthur's death and burial at Glaston- bury. Even in the stanzaic Morte Arthur, in which Arthur is taken to Avalon, a knight later finds the king's body buried 32 in a chapel, and Lancelot remains with it until his own death many years later. In the Arundel version of the §§gg§ gfi 2:913, the Eng- lish adapter rationalizes the supernatural passages that other English versifiers leave intact--an extreme example of the typical English tendency to minimize the marvelous or irrational.314 Similarly, the author of Ag Bone Florence 9E Rggg deletes all supernatural trappings, although he retains the essentially miraculous elements, such as the ringing of the church bells. The mysterious is clearly not one of the essential at- tributes that define these Middle English works as a generic group. Many of them have no real sense of the marvelous, and those that do tend to minimize magical elements, exploit them for religious or didactic ends, or use them as attention- getting devices. INTEREST IN "COURTLY LOVE" "Courtly love" is a controversial term that has spawned many productive, as well as unproductive scholarly debates.35 Many critics claim that it is the dominant force of romance, perhaps because it was a revolutionary idea or literary inno- vation: It is well known, of course, that the prevailing theme of the romances is love-—and love of that courteous and revolutionary sort which the Pro- vencal poets invented, which Andrew the Chaplain codified, and which Chrétien de Troyes and his 33 successors established as characteristic of ro- mantic fiction. The romances, indeed, were the obvious and natural home of courteous love, and the exhibition of it was perhaps their chief so- cial function.3 Although Karl Young needlessly overstates his point, an in- terest in love, courtly or otherwise, is certainly evident in many of the most popular French romances, exemplified by a recent title, The Ways 9: Love: Eleven Romances 9: Medieval 37 France. It is true that the twelfth-century Provencal lyrics followed by later French and German romances clearly demon- strate the literary language and idiosyncratic conventions of this new love code. Indeed, courtly love was not only a "Eu- ropean literary and rhetorical tradition from which the medi- eval writer could draw certain themes and stylistic de- vices,"38 but also and more significantly "a comprehensive cultural phenomenon: a literary movement, an ideology, an "39 Its popularity and per- ethical system, a style of life. vasiveness compelled all medieval writers to acknowledge it in some way. Yet even from the beginning, treatments of love in the romance literature reflect a self-consciousness, a quality close to irony or parody. At least one critic has accounted for this problematic treatment of courtly love in European romances as a problem inherent in form, a problem encountered when the courtly conventions were transferred from the lyric to the narrative: As we have seen, once that system is taken out of the lyric form and forced into a narrative genre, it begins to give way. It is based on a delicate 3U balance of the lower and higher impulses of man's nature, a balance that can only obtain in his mind. The lyric lover can vacillate forever between hope and despair, renunciation and desire, in the pursuit of an unattainable ideal, but the hero of romance must act--he must achieve his goals or be overcome in the attempt. He faces real problems, for which he must find a solution real people to whom he owes service and loyaltyj‘O Joan Ferrante's analysis makes good sense of the literary phenomena: some naive, idealistic writers swallow the doc- trine whole, seemingly unaware of its internal contradictions and ambivalences, whereas other writers, more intellectual or discerning, find abundant material for parody, criticism, or self-probing. Courtly love is unquestionably an important medieval literary convention, exploited or manipulated by the author who wanted to be sure that his works were in vogue in the highest aristocratic courts of Europe. Chrétien de Troyes is an excellent example. Although he focuses on the love re- lationships between men and women in practically all his ro- mances, he does not force each work into a mold prescribed by the courtly love code. Instead, Chrétien is "clearly pre- occupied, in varying degrees, according to the romance With natural human love, courtesy, chivalry and knightly pro- wess in the social life of the courts of his day."141 Just as Chrétien examines love from many different perspectives, he probes other traditional motifs and conventions for his own moral, philosophical, spiritual, and comic purposes, often exploring the possibilities of his poetic medium for aesthetic perspectives and verbal irony.“2 In many romances, 35 irony in fact functions as an "invitation to self- “3 examination." Clearly then, medieval romance is not pri- marily or simply an anatomy of courtly love as is commonly believed. Instead, romance may be viewed as an exploration of relationships, offering sympathetic insight into all kinds of feelings, as Rosemond Tuve has suggested.uu Love conventions in medieval romance are a literary de- vice for examining the individual psyche, probing emotions, and opening the individual to a newly discovered self- consciousness. And it is precisely this quality that has led many modern critics to say that medieval romance is the pre- cursor of the modern novel. Certainly, this new feature is central to the romance genre. Raymond Cormier refers to ro- mance's "themes of interiorization, of spirituality, and of A5 sensibility," and John A. Yunck emphasizes this new intro- spection: And with love also comes--for the first time in a long vernacular narrative--introspection. The lovers probe their own psyches in interminable mon- ologues analyzing the desires, the sentiments, the psychology, the principles, the powers, the obser- vances, and the doctrines of love. This sort of introspective exposition became, as readers of the early works of Chrétien know, an essential part of the romance genre.“6 The romance genre diverges from other medieval literary genres largely through its emphasis on the individual. Courtly love is an important aspect of this new emphasis in that "the romancers and lyric poets were no longer content merely to recount men's deeds; they made a serious, if some- A7 what awkward, attempt to analyse their feelings." This 36 analysis of feeling, whether awkward or elaborate, might be one of the most salient features of French romance, but it is strikingly absent from many Middle English versions of known French or Anglo-Norman originals. Consistently and charac- teristically, the Middle English writers excised what-~from the English poetic point of view—-must have seemed an over- extended, ultimately frivolous obstruction of a good, fast- paced story. Margaret Schlauch describes this typical Eng- lish treatment of love: In brief, it may be said that English poets treat- ing of the international love romances avoid the over-refined analyses of sentiment and behavior which were characteristic, for instance, of pre- decessors like Chrétien de Troyes in French. In- stead, they more often stress action and adventure; they also concentrate less often on elegant adul- tery and more often have the stories culminate in the "happy ending" of a conventional marriage. Practically all critics have recognized this crucial difference between the English and French romance, but too often they attribute it to the less refined, cruder English writers, who were unable to understand or appreciate the courtly intricacies of their noble French examples. The po- sition describing these English poems as "popular debase- A9 ments" that "impoverish the philosophical ethos" is unfor- tunately typical. To denigrate the English works because they are not courtly French romances is senseless. Since the English poets insistently delete introspection and a courtly ambiance from their works and carefully amend their texts to eliminate the courtly love doctrine, their treatment deserves careful analysis as a manifestation of a legitimate as well 37 as intentional philosophy separate and quite different from the French. When so many poets repeatedly pay attention to minute details in order to change their originals in a con— sistent way, then that approach can no longer be seen as hap- hazard, accidental, or unintelligent. There must be reasons beyond the alleged vulgarity, incompetence, and unsophistica- tion of the English poets to explain their deliberate hand- ling of this important theme. In fact, these changes almost always reflect greater morality and didacticism, avoiding the immorality of a love relationship outside marriage. The affairs, adultery, and even amatory dalliance of the French works are replaced by the legal state Of marriage with its serious social implica- tions. "Avoidance of the extremes and exploitation of emo- tion in French romances is the consistent English response 50 Even when which clarifies and heightens moral awareness." English narratives retain some of the French courtliness, the movement is inevitably towards a socially acceptable, desir- able end. Although women and love are often found in the Middle English works, passion and love sickness are not so essential as marriage, which replaces private pleasure with political and social responsibility. Of more than eighty narratives, only twenty-four, about one-third, work with the conventions of courtly love. Of these, thirteen have known French or Anglo—Norman sources.51 Two others, Generides and the Earl gfi Toulous, might have 38 been influenced by French works, although no French originals have ever been found. Eger and Grime parallels Chrétien's Iwain, both verbally and thematically, but there is no evi- dence that the English author used the latter as a direct model for his own work. The six remaining narratives (Squyr 23 Lowe Degre, Sir Eglamour g: Artois, Sir Torrent 23 Portyn- gale, Sir Degare, Sir Degrevant, and Sir Gawain and the Green Knight) borrow motifs from many sources, including other ro- mances, folklore, ballads, and saints' lives. (Table 2 pre- sents the Middle English narratives that moralize and relig— ionize courtly-love conventions.) The two English versions of Ipomedon are especially in- teresting for the insights they provide into two different English methods of adaptation. The A version, from the fifteenth-century Chetham Manuscript, consists of 8890 lines in tail-rhyme stanzas and is a fairly close translation of Hue de Rotelande's twelfth-century romance Ipomedon of over 10000 lines. Even though much of the outward courtliness of the original is retained, especially in the psychological study of the woman as tormented lover, the English version loses some of the inner qualities of the characters, who move with courtly breeding and gallantry; and though their conduct does not seem adequately mo- tivated . . . the characters give voice to their emotional conflicts and analygg their sentiments 1n sol1loquy and lamentat1on. The B version, only 23A6 lines in rhyming couplets, serves as an excellent counterpoint, exhibiting the more typical Eng- lish treatment of love. The author cuts out much of the 39 Table 2 INTEREST IN COURTLY LOVE A. Works that moralize courtly-love conventions: 1 \C)CI)\IO'\\.J'I-C'UL)|'\.)-a O. 17. 18. 19. 20. 21. 22. 23. 2A. CD mxloxmxz-wm—a Cambridge Alexander-Cassamus Fragment Earl of Toulous Eger and Grime Floris and Blancheflur Generides Grene Knight Ipomedon A Ipomedon B Knight of Curtesy and the Fair Lady of Faguell Lai le Freine Morte Arthure Octavian Partonope of Blois Romauns of Partenay Sir Degare Sir Degrevant Sir Eglamour of Artois Sir Gawain and the Green Knight Sir Launfal Sir Tristrem Sir Torrent of Portyngale Squyr of Lowe Degre William of Palerne Ywain and Gawain Works that religionize courtly-love conventions: Amoryus and Cleopes Ashmole Sir Firumbras Bone Florence of Rome Guy of Warwick Fillingham Firumbras King of Tars Morte Arthur Sowdon of Babylon A0 dialogue and emotion of the original and reduces the conven- tions of courtly love to an almost comic level. Following a common Egpgg of love, Ipomedon hears of the Duke's daugh- ter, falls in love instantly, and vows he will die without her: When he herd of hir so speke, Hym thought, his herte wold to breke (ll. 1A1-A2) And so he mornyth nyght & day (l. 1A7) I dye for hyr, with oute deley! (l. 178). The lengthy laments, the self-indulgent introspection, and the detailed self-analyses of the French become mere snippets that barely suggest the weighty tradition behind them. The thirteen works with known Anglo-Norman or French originals provide numerous opportunities for comparing the French and English treatments of courtly love. For example, the three Middle English versions of Marie de France's £21 £3 Lanval consistently eliminate details appealing to a courtly audience. Moving away from Marie de France's focus on courtly-love interests, the adapters are "concerned not with 53 contemporary refinements," but with a systematic explora- tion 0f ethical problems, specifically that of falsehood and truth.5u The Knight gfi Curtesy and the Fair Lagy g: Faguell is a mere remnant of 50A lines without the picturesque detail and love language of the elaborate 8000-line French original. Such abridgement is also common among other English versions 55 of French originals. In Ywain and Gawain, for instance, the English adapter of Yvain 2E Ag Chevalier au Lion A1 downplays Chrétien's psychological study of the love between Ivain and Alundyne and transforms Yvain from an accomplished courtier-lover to a heroic fighting man.56 While retaining the basic love story, the English version diminishes the pas- sion of the two lovers and emphasizes instead the vow between them, as evidenced by the repeated substitution of the word 57 In ad- "truth" for "amor" in the early lines of the poem. dition, the English poet reduces ngifl by one-third, mostly by deleting the introspection and elaborate courtly details that suffuse the French original with the niceties of courtly love and its conventional behavior.58 The author of William 2E Palerne treats his original in much the same way and "reduces but does not completely elim- inate the extended monologues and debates concerning love."59 As the author focuses on the devotion between the heroine and gallant young hero, he uses "as gracious ornaments some of the outward rituals of the courtly love tradition while re- jecting its fundamental principles of service and adul- tery."6O The author of the Southern version of Octavian also "tends to condense or omit, especially the love-matter, the self-analysis, and the psychological introspection."61 This method of eliminating the elements usually associated with courtly love also occurs in Sir Tristrem. In the English version, which barely presents the essentials of the tragic love story, the author manages a "drastic condensation of the story and the elimination of the debates and soliloquies A2 characteristic of the original."62 Floris and Blancheflur contains the courtly descriptions and aristocratic setting suggestive of courtly love; however, the young couple's relationship is not one of "passion, but of an idyllic love. Tender love and youthful innocence over- "63 come all obstacles. The Middle English Lai l§_Freine also presents some of the trappings, but not courtly love itself. In fact, this story may be interpreted as a triumph of mar- riage over amour courtois. Raised by an Abbess, the deserted girl Freine takes a secret lover-~according to the rules of courtly love--until he acquiesces to his "vassals' demand that he marry a proper wife and beget a proper heir."6l4 Freine's lover deviates radically from the typical portrait of the true courtly lover who is faithful to his beloved despite society's demands to conform: To amour courtois the rights of love were even more sacred than those of marriage, and for this reason an episode setting forth the emotional conflict of a man who was both husband and lover mande an es- pecial appeal.65 Ag; Ag Freine thus sidesteps this potentially appealing as- pect of the story and presents a lover conforming to society. The didactic point is obvious, and the moral appeal of Marie de France's Ag; fit the English mold well. Changes in the English version of Partonope g: Blois also point to the English concern for morality. Although the plot follows the Old French source quite closely, attitudes towards women are quite different. Prizing female virtue and Purity, the Middle English author describes a Melior far more A3 concerned with her reputation than is her French counter- part.66 In addition, he changes the French author's criti- cism of a lady who rejects love to approbation for her refusal to behave dishonorably.67 The Romauns gfi Partenay is yet another example of the English mingling of courtly love motifs with morality. Des— pite the obvious courtly influence on the aristocratic set- ting, pictorial descriptions, and the lovers' behavior, the narrative nonetheless centers on Raymond's broken vow to his wife and its serious repercussions. The moral implications of their relationship and the consequences of his sin are explored, not the story's courtly aspects. Another Middle English work, Generides, borrows some of the apparatus of courtly love without its philosophic basis. The characters display some typical courtly-love symptoms such as restlessness and lack of sleep, but seldom engage in introspection. George Kane points to this work as "an escape from reality into a well-bred world of courtly love where, if passion is wanting, at least the attitudes of passion are gracefully assumed."68 Clearly, the motifs of the courtly- love tradition have been taken, but not the underlying doc- trine. The treatment of character is flat with none of the spiritualization of the French courtly romance. Courtly elements suffuse the Egg; 9: Toulous: the Earl falls in love with a married Empress sight unseen and risks his life in enemy territory for one glimpse of his beloved. After finally seeing her, he is content. His uncourtly AA behavior becomes even more blatant: When danger threatens her, unlike more passionate lovers for whom it is a principle of courtly love to make no question of right or wrong in regard to the Beloved, he pauses to assure himself of her innocence before attempting her defence.69 Even in this narrative in which so many courtly conventions are observed, morality creeps in. After the Emperor's con- venient death, the lovers marry, a reward for their virtuous behavior. Eger and Grime, another interesting work that presents both courtly and anti-courtly elements, begins with the pro- tagonist Eger, setting out to fight Sir Greysteele to win the love of Winglayne, who wants only an unconquered knight for a husband. Instead of overpowering his foe like a typical courtly knight, Eger loses not only his horse and the fight, but also his little finger. Returning to his sworn—brother Grime, Eger complains about this unexpected turn of events. Winglayne, at first appearing the concerned, if haughty, lover, is unable to sleep worrying about Eger and listens at his door during the night--surely a hint of unladylike and uncourtly behavior. Instead of remaining true to Eger in his need, she shrewishly rejects him in a wonderful reversal: She loued his body mickle the worse. Wordys this lady wold not say, But turned her back and went awaye (ll. 37A-76). In contrast to Winglayne, Loospaine is the true courtly lady. Originally described in fey-like terms, especially in regard to her miraculous healing powers and bower (11. 209-97) and her love spot (11. 619-2A), she heals Eger, aids Grime in A5 killing Greysteele, and marries Grime, the true knight of the tale. Courtly details also appear in Squyr 2i Lowe Degre with its clearly aristocratic setting. Beginning with a poor squire in love with the King of Hungary's daughter, the story follows some of the conventions of courtly love, including the secret nature of their love necessary because of the dis- parity in their respective states. When the Squire is am— bushed outside her door, the Princess refuses to let him in-- the action that gives rise to the narrative's subtitle, "Undo the Door." In the ensuing fight, the Squire kills the treacherous steward, who is then left there in the Squire's clothes. The Princess, who finally does open the door, as— sumes that the corpse is the Squire's and treasures it for seven years. Meanwhile, the King releases the Squire from prison, sending him abroad for seven years in order to gain renown before returning to claim the hand of his daughter. In this story, the typical courtly love plot turns macabre. Similarly, a man in love with a woman of higher station also figures in Sir Torrent 9: Portyngale and Sir Eglamour gfi Artois. Before the desired marriages are allowed, the wom- en's fathers impose impossible tasks on both Torrent and Eglamour, who perform them against all odds. Despite this, (Zhe fathers exile the women and their newborn children. Eglamour actively seeks his lover and child, whereas Torrent goes to the Holy Land and is accidentally reunited with his f‘amily after a fifteen-year separation. Both narratives A6 begin with a courtly love situation, but twist the courtly- love elements to pietistic ends. Sir Degare, a hodgepodge of unrelated themes and motifs, contains a brief courtly-love interlude embedded in strange events that range from Degare's mother being ravished by a fairy knight and deserting her love-child to an Oedipal mar- riage between Degare and his mother. The courtly-love scene occurs well into the narrative during Degare's quest for his father. Once he wins the lady of the castle, he leaves her to continue his search. After finding his father, Degare returns and marries the lady. Just one of Degare's adven- tures that delays the ultimate meeting of father and mother and son, the interlude at the castle has no real importance and sheds no light on the meaning of the narrative. Another narrative similar to Sir Degare in combining motley motifs is Sir Degrevant, which emphasizes the love conventions. In fact, it is one of the few Middle English works that actually develop its courtly motifs: Elaborated are details of social life, the glowing beauties of costume and architecture, of embroi- dery, jewelwork, table-fittings, wall-paintings,-- picturesque items which have delighted the liter- ary critics and inspired graphic artists like William Morris and the Pre-Raphaelites.70 The author stresses typical love symptoms, although Melior's response to Degrevant's wooing may suggest "common-sense "71 Inorality rather than amour courtois. Certis, sir, ef pou were a kyng, pou solde do me no swylke thing 0r pou wede me with a rynge, And maryage full-fill (11. 1533-36). A7 In this work, courtly and moral elements mingle once again: There is a striking and perhaps typically English mixture of courtly and moral elements. The author thinks it necessary to state emphatically that the lovers did not sin before their wedding-night althgggh they were fond of each other (11. 1559- 60). The famous courtly description of Melior's chamber (11. 1397- 1A6A) depicts this fascinating mixture: The room is most splendidly adorned with paintings, statues, and embroidery, but it is rather unusual that the various pictures and portraits do not rep- resent romance-heroes, as in similar descriptions in French romance, but Apostles, Saints and Fathers of the Church. . . . The whole scene is obviously indebted to the French courtly novel and any reader would, after the elaborate description of the cham- ber, expect a courtly love scene; on the other hand, the moral element is never absent and thus we are hardly surprised to see the lady reject the ad- vances of the knight.7 Like Sir Degrevant, Sir Gawain and the Green Knight 7A twists romance and courtly conventions. The dangers that Gawain faces are not from the collision of the courtly and natural worlds, but from dangers inherent in the courtly-love game and its inherent values. Can Gawain play the love game without losing face as the most courteous knight of the Round Table and without being disloyal to his host? The usual love encounter between a knight and a married lady is transformed from a private relationship with significance for only the two partners into a testing of social relationships. Ga— wain's loyalty and truth--his most important virtues as a knight-—are at stake. As in other Middle English narratives, Sir Gawain and the Green Knight places betrayal and breach of promise at the heart of the story. A8 These twenty-four works use the conventions of courtly love in various ways, often distorting or moralizing them. Eight other Middle English works, however, manipulate these conventions for specifically didactic purposes (Table 2, B).. In these primarily religious narratives, love appears in in- teresting ways. Ag Bone Florence gfi Rome describes Garcy, Florence's unwanted suitor (ll. 9A-10A) in a comic reversal of the usual courtly description of the chivalric lover. In addition, Florence, with her own flawless beauty, at first resembles the traditional heroine of courtly-love romance, but her external beauty is only emblematic of her inner vir- 75 Rather than the wife of a chi- tue and exemplary nature. valric knight, Florence becomes a nun, performing miracles. In Amoryus and Cleopes, the typical courtly love situa- quickly departs from the prescribed. At their secret rendez- vous, Cleopes is frightened by a lion that wipes its bloody mouth on the handerchief she drops in her flight. Amoryus, thinking she is dead, kills himself, and Cleopes, minutes la- ‘ter, takes her own life when she finds him dead. This is the end, however, of the story's similarity to the Pyramis and Thisbe plot. A Christian hermit finds the bodies of Amoryus and Cleopes, restores them to life, and baptizes and marries them. The lovers' main function is thus specifically reli- gious and didactic. A similar sense of religious intention seems to underlie Guinevere's choice of a penitent's life in the stanzaic Morte Arthur after her long adulterous relation- ship with Lancelot. She seems to achieve an essential A9 self-awareness of her personal failings and an acceptance of her responsibility that brings her to God in the fullest sense.76 The Sowdon gfi Babylon and Firumbras stories also twist courtly conventions by presenting the Saracen Floripas, who even as a heathen, conforms to some of the courtly codes. Certainly her love for Guy motivates her defense and protec- tion of the French knights, but her love is not Swooning or passive. Instead, it gives her courage to push her duenna out the window, dash out the jailer's brains with her key, and save them all from certain death. Despite her "mascu- line" activity, Floripas is an attractive and strong char- acter, whose motivation is clear and whose fierce loyalty and courage are commendable. However, she is not a typical courtly-love heroine, inspiring the hero to deeds of valor, engaging in ritualistic social patter, or consumed by love sickness for her knightly lover. Instead of manipulating the popular courtly conventions, other Middle English works do not focus on courtly love at all, but emphasize instead different kinds of love. For ex— ample, Athelston and Amis and Amiloun test the love and loy- alty between sworn friends (Table 3, A). Both strongly di- dactic works illustrate loyalty rewarded only after great suffering. Another set of narratives focuses on constant love (Table 3, B). These works have nothing to do with the elaborate courtly-love code, but rather extol the strength of Virtuous love against all tests—~false accusations, exiles, JZ'UUN-J O \OCDNOUWJI'UUN—J mmmmmggggggggda tWN-AOKOCIDNOUIJIUUN—AO 25. 26. 27. 28. 29. 30. 31. 32. 33. 3A. 35. 36. 50 Table 3 ABSENCE OF COURTLY LOVE Works that test loyalties between friends: Amis and Amiloun 2. Athelston Works that focus on constant love: Bevis of Hampton 5 King Horn Emare 6. Sir Isumbras Havelok 7. Sir Orfeo Horn Child 8 Sir Triamour Works that Alexander Alexander Alexander have no love emphasis: A B C Arthour and Merlin Arthur Avowynge of King Arthur Awntyrs off Arthur Chevalere Assigne Destruction of Troy Duke Roland and Otuel of Spain Gamelyn Guy and Colbrond History of the Holy Grail Jeaste of Syr Gawayne Joseph of Arimathie Laud Troy Book Libeaus Desconus Lyfe of Alisaunder Merlin Otuel a Knight Otuel and Reinbrun, Roland Son of Giy Richard Coer de Lyon Roberd of Cisyle Roland and Vernagu Seege of Troye Sege of Melayne Siege of Jerusalem Siege of Thebes Sir Amadace Sir Cleges Sir Gowther Sir Perceval of Galles Song of Roland Titus and Turke and Vespasian Gowin 51 separations, and sometimes even unwanted suitors. In King Horn, the "love element is treated briefly and cursorily and 77 the emphasis is on the adventure and fighting." Sir Tria- mour, Emare, and Sir Isumbras focus on a wife separated from her husband and describe the trials, adventures, and suffer- ing they udergo before their reunion. The love presented in these works is neither adulterous nor personally ennobling, but represents the ideal of constancy in marriage. The remaining Middle English works, a significant group of thirty-six narratives, have no trace of a love element. Although Libeaus Desconus and Sir Perceval 9£_Galles deal with the love affairs of their heroes, they are still in- cluded in this category because they reduce love to insigni- ficance.78 Clearly, courtly love had its usefulness for many Middle English writers, but few explored its potential for probing the emotions and feelings of the lovers. When the Middle English authors appropriated its conventions, their over- riding tendency was to moralize that love and place it firmly within the bounds of socially acceptable behavior. Thus, Middle English writers usually manipulated the popular con- ventions for their own didactic or religious intentions, not for the celebration of a philosophical doctrine of love. Despite the English disinterest in this philosophy, the writers did find much of the courtly machinery appealing, never hesitating to borrow any motif they felt would interest N‘ m" C1 52 their English audience. ADHERENCE TO THE CHIVALRIC ETHIC The chivalric ethic, the third feature commonly associ- ated with romance, is one of those ubiquitous phrases that everyone uses but few define. In talking about chivalry, critics sometimes seem to refer simply to the aristocratic setting and all its chivalric trappings; at other times, how- ever, they intend the specific system of conduct prescribed by the feudal system. To make matters even worse, the chi- valric ethic and the Christian ethic often seem inseparable: The virtues demanded of the knight were essen- tially those demanded of every Christian, that is, the cardinal virtues, modified, or rather with special emphasis upon those aspects suited to a man of arms. John of Salisbury's definition of the duties of a warrior reflects this accurately enough. 'To defend the church, attack unbelief, venerate the priesthood, protect the poor from in— jury, keep peace in ghe state, pour out their blood for their brother.’7 Although no one would quarrel with John of Salisbury's defin- itions of knightly virtues--idealistic though they may be-- the relevance of these abstract virtues to the actual por- trayal of chivalric heroes in romance literature is question- able. Romance heroes rarely perform their knightly duties of venerating the poor, and when they do attack unbelief and try to keep the peace, these ideals often translate into bloody battles against infidels or long sieges against neighboring knights. Since such interminable battles and petty quarrel- ing were the unquestioned facts of medieval life, it is not 53 surprising that many theorists tried to instill noble ideals into the knights, the otherwise uncontrollable, brutal, and destructive class of medieval society. Romance writers, ec- clesiastics, and chroniclers alike tried to soften the cal- lous mindlessness of the fighting men by inculcating ideals of conduct, which sprang from three different sources: feu- dal chivalry, religious chivalry, and courtly love: Feudal chivalry was simply the spontaneous devel- opment of the immemorial warrior virtues under the influence of mediaeval conditions. Religious chi- valry grew naturally out of St. Augustine's con- ception of the Christian soldier. As complete concepts both were products of mediaeval life yet their component ideas were not new. Courg5y love, on the other hand, was essentially novel. Feudal chivalry sanctions fighting to maintain the sta- tus quo, to prevent rebellions, and to keep the peace whereas religious chivalry sanctions bloodshed against the unbeliev— ers. They glorify either the fight for country or for God. Leon Gautier quite rightly defines chivalry as a "Germanic custom idealized by the Church."81 In courtly love, however, ideals of conduct move away from the good of society to the individual and his personal feelings. Curiously, this a- social ideal gained some status through the popular religious conception of Christ-as-lover: From the end of the twelfth century onwards there developed a perfect parallelism between the theo- logical stress upon Christ's display of love on the Cross and the conception of chivalric conduct in the Arthurian romances, wherein a knight-by brave endurance and heroic encounters would save the lady whom he loved from treacherous capture, thereby hoping to gain her favours, or might joust brilliantly in front of her, hoping by his prowess to win her love. This common theme of the romances had arisen from two causes: religious morality 5A imposed upon feudal custom emphasized the duty of a knight to protect the helpless, such as women and the fatherless, whilst romantic love fusing with chivalric courtesy exalted battle on behalf of a lady as a means of gaining her love.82 Although the ideals of courtly love, relgious chivalry, and feudal chivalry vary, they do overlap and limit the kinds of militant behavior that medieval society considered accept- able. Naturally, the actual behavior of the knightly class seldom conformed to the theoretical ideas or their literary representation, but the belief in these ideals persisted for centuries and is critical to the ideology underlying romance literature: But there was in the romances of chivalry, espe- cially in those of the thirteenth century, an im- portant ideological content, which was not the doctrine of courtly love in its extreme form, but rather the doctrine of perfect knighthood, made perfect by a deepened sense of devotion, by the recognition of a freely chosen allegiance to what Malory was to call much later the High Order of Knighthood.83 That these chivalric ideals survived even into the fifteenth century is not altogether startling: In the fifteenth century chivalry was still, after religion, the strongest of all the ethical concep- tions which dominated the mind and the heart. It was thogght of as the crown of the whole social system. As a matter of fact, a distancing from reality seemed to add even more imaginative power to these ideals. In England during the fourteenth century, the old feudal structure was being displaced, and a different economic structure was ap- pearing, yet the interest in chivalry persisted, even in- creased. W. T. H. Jackson focuses on this somewhat peculiar 55 phenomenon of retrospective idealism: The most exaggerated respect was paid to lineage, aristocratic bearing, courtly manner, and rich clothing by a society whose wealth was dependent less and less on land and more and more on trade and commerce. The new possessors of wealth were much concerned to imitate the ideals of gentility and, as far as possible, to identify themselves with the society they so much admired. The result was that the outward forms of "chivalry," as in- terpreted from the earlier courtly romances, were practiced more thoroughly than they had ever been in the period of the finest flowering of the ro- mance.8 Certainly, in many of the relatively late Middle English nar- ratives, the setting is aristocratic and the hero a fighter with the typical qualities of the perfect knight--loyalty, gentility, bravery, goodness, prowess, courtesy, and gener- osity. His world generally revolved around his various com- bats, and he gained renown and honor through his excellence on the battlefield, whether fighting for God, country, or love. Most Middle English works take chivalry and its ideals into account in some way, although a few narratives com- pletely ignore the chivalric ethic. (Table A separates the Works according to their use of chivalric ideals.) The first two narratives, Havelok and Gamelyn, (Table A, A) present heroes who live outside the aristocratic court; neither goes on a quest or wins the love of a woman whose station is higher than his own. Instead, both deal with non- chivalric life. Gamelyn, even more than Havelok, deals with the harsh realities of contemporary life. The youngest son is cheated out of his inheritance by an older brother, fights 56 Table A ADHERENCE TO THE CHIVALRIC ETHIC A. Works that present a non-chivalric ethic: Gamelyn King Horn Libeaus Desconus Lyfe of Alisaunder Morte Arthure Sir Orfeo Christian chivalric ethic: Spain 1. Havelok 2. B. Works that present a heroic ethic: 1. Alexander A 7. 2. Alexander C 8. 3. Amis and Amiloun 9. A. Arthour and Merlin 10. 5. Athelston 11. 6. Horn Child C. Works that present a militant 1. Ashmole Sir Firumbras 2. Bevis of Hampton 3. Destruction of Troy A. Duke Roland and Sir Otuel of 5. Fillingham Firumbras 6. Guy of Warwick 7. History of the Holy Grail 8. Joseph of Arimathie 9. Laud Troy Book 10. Merlin 11. Otuel a Knight 12. Otuel and Roland 13. Richard Coer de Lyon 1A. Roland and Vernagu 15. Seege of Troye 16. Sege of Melayne 17. Siege of Jerusalem 18. Siege of Thebes 19. Song of Roland 20. Sowdon of Babylon 21. Titus and Vespasian 22. Troy Book D. Works that present a chivalric ethic: Awntyrs off Arthur (B) Earl of Toulous Generides Guy and Colbrond Ipomedon A Ipomedon B Octavian Partonope of Blois Sir Degrevant \OCDKJOU‘l-C’LAJN—b 10. 11. 12. 13. \OCDNOU'I-IZ'UUN—fi 10. I! H CDNOU‘I-L'UJN—A «EMMA 57 Table A (con't.) Sir Triamour Sir Tristrem Squyr of Lowe Degre William of Palerne Works that test a chivalric ethic: Avowynge of King Arthur Awntyrs off Arthur (A) Carle off Carlile Eger and Grime Grene Knight Morte Arthur Sir Eglamour of Artois Sir Gawain and the Green Knight Sir Perceval of Galles Sir Torrent of Portyngale Syre Gawene and the Carl of Carelyle Turke and Gowin Ywain and Gawain Works that present a courtly ethic: Cambridge Alexander-Cassamus Fragment Floris and Blancheflur Lai le Freine Sir Degare Sir Launfal Weddynge of Sir Gawen and Dame Ragnell Work that burlesques the courtly ethic: Jeaste of Syr Gawayne Works that present a religious ethic: Amoryus and Cleopes Bone Florence of Rome Chevalere Assigne Emare King of Tars Roberd of Cisyle Sir Gowther Sir Isumbras Works that present no clearly defined ethic: Knight of Curtesy and the Fair Lady of Faguell Romauns of Partenay Sir Amadace Sir Cleges 58 with the sheriff, flees into the woods, becomes the leader of an outlaw band, finally makes a mockery of the law court, and punishes the bribed jury and corrupt officials. There are wrestling matches instead of jousts; wooden clubs in- stead of lances; and a forest with outlaws instead of an aristocratic court with gentle knights and ladies. Havelok likewise focuses on life beneath the aristoc- racy: There is a respect for honest labor, the hero is associated most of the time with common people, and such people and their activities play a large part in the story. His great triumph is not in knightly competition but in putting the stone. The charm of his character is not revealed in courtly graces, but in homely and natural virtues--a cheerful, sunny disposition which makes the children and cook like him, a readiness to accept without question his humgle lot as a fisher boy and scullery knave.8 The crucial difference, however, between Havelok and Gamelyn is that Havelok's life among the commoners is only an inter- lude, an apprenticeship among the people whom he will later rule. Although the poem does not actually portray Havelok as king, it can easily be read as a handbook for princes87 or an exploration of the theme of theocratic and contractual kingship.88 King Horn, (Table A, B) another narrative that contains little of the mystique of chivalry and courtly graces, has more in common with the tradition of Old English heroic bat- tle poetry than with the chivalric, romance tradition. Even its theme of expulsion and return resembles much of the epic fiction of feudal and pre-feudal times.89 Although Horn, 59 unlike Havelok and Gamelyn, moves in aristocratic or courtly circles, the atmosphere is closer to the old heroic courts of epic, not the chivalric courts of romance. The poet cre- ates an "epic" society "where behavior is open and direct, where action follows hard upon impulse and the emotions are not concealed behind a ritual of polite conventions."90 The poem's epic qualities are also responsible for the alternate title Geste 9; King Horn, which, according to W. H. Soho- 91 field, came to mean an epic poem. Like King Horn, Libeaus Desconus presents a heroic, rather than chivalric or romance world. Its heroic quality is "perfectly consistent with the constant emphasis that is placed upon the feudal bond that unites Lybeaus and Ar- thur."92 This special bond between lord and subject is not usually stressed in courtly romances, except in a few Arthu- rian narratives where the bond of loyalty is essential to the inevitable sense of tragedy. The alliterative M2333 Arthure is one of these. Its author intentionally reshaped the chronicle tradition to make Arthur into a heroic charac- 93 ter of far greater complexity. The poem celebrates many heroic ideals, as John Finlayson points out: The sentiments of our poem are almost purely he- roic; the emphasis on the loyalty of his ment to Arthur, and of Arthur to them; the attitudes to war and battle, which are almost identical with those in Beowulf and the Battle 9; Maldon; the close relationship of Arthur to Gawain, which parallels Charlemagne's relationship to Roland. the stereotyped laments by Arthur on the death of Gawain, which closely resemble that of Charlemagne for Roland--these are all clear indications that we are in the heroic, not the romantic world.9u 60 Other stylistic devices like the detailed descriptions and the endless series of battles emphasize the epic quality, the thematic sense of defeat, and the tragic sense of the disintegration of a society. This poem stands alone among the English metrical narratives in its movingly tragic out- come. While many other English works focus on betrayals and treachery that threaten the stability of society, that soci- ety is never destroyed. The main thrust of these works is towards the re-establishment of order and rightful rule after the triumph over negative, disruptive impulses. The Morte Arthure, however, ends with the destruction of a society and thus is closer to epic than romance. Two other narratives, Athelston and Amis and Amiloun, also hark back to older, heroic virtues, not primarily chi- valric ones. As A. Trounce says: I think that the poem of Athelston, along with Amis and Amiloun, earns an added spiritual dignity in reflecting though faintly the old heroic virtues and, as a literary form, has a particular interest because it combines with a romance theme hints of sterner tragedy.95 The central theme of Amis and Amiloun does concern the pain- ful moral dilemma caused by a bond of friendship: The situation in which Amiloun is involved is, in the technical sense, a tragic one, and he makes his choice as the heroes of the old sagas, who with their "aesthetic view of conduct" preferred that their gonduct should be dramatic rather than right- eous.9 Sworn brotherhood is also at the heart of Athelston, but the poem turns on a false betrayer, an ordeal by fire (iudicium Dei), and eventual punishment of the false accuser: 61 We have a story beginning with an act of treachery and falsehood ending in the punishment of the act, and taking a course between that beginning and end according to the example in the chansons. 7 Certainly, the Old French epics with their traitors and in- terplay of Church and state are closer to Athelston than to romance and courtly traditions. Other pseudo-historical works, the Alexander stories, resemble chansons g3 geste, emphasizing epic rather than courtly traditions. The Lyfe 23 Alisaunder-poet "dwells on the details of slaughter, the feats of specified knights, and the metaphoric comparisons that the battle or combatants might elicit."98 Alexander A also shares this tendency to- wards the heroic, with its author stressing the epic poten- tial of his stories. The author of Arthour and Merlin describes battle scenes in great detail and with mindless gusto, but also consciously writes within an epic framework: In the descriptions of battles, too, there is, in spite of repetitive monotony, an obvious striving for rhetorical effects and stylization, mainly ex- pressed in the stereotyped repetition of particular heroic deeds, the unvaried sequences of single fights and mass-encounters and the interminable lists of combatants (e.g. ll. 9329—A8).99 Partly because of the long and venerable tradition of the Old French chansons Ag geste of Christian knights fight- ing against the unbeliever, partly because of the fervor generated by and for the Crusades with rhetoric about Chris- tian chivalry, and partly because of the popularity of the romance, a large number of Middle English works focus on the Christian militant ideals (Table A, C). Not surprisingly, 62 many of these poems are translations or adaptations of Old French epics or chronicles, such as the Pseudo-Turpin. Of this group, Guy 9: Warwick, Richard Coer Ag Lyon, and §2X22.2£ Hampton clearly focus on a chivalric world with a knightly hero with both secular and religious virtues. Guy first appears as the usual secular knight although he under- takes many of his early adventures "because of a genuine pity for the oppressed."100 By the second part, however, he be- comes a Champion of God with his mission as a militant Christian most apparent in his fight against Colbrond, which is told like a devotional tale.101 The narrative moves away from its romantic, chivalric tendencies and ends on a homi- letic note with Guy's burial at a hermitage, where miracles then occur. Richard, another champion of God, is more bru- tal and repulsive than Guy in his personal vendetta against the Saracens. The author partly justifies his militant Christian spirit: The heathens are no longer seen as human beings, but as personifications of all that is unchris- tian and of the malice of Satan. Their massacre is an act of Christian duty, approved by God; the savage brutality of this wholesale slaughter is evidently not felt by the author because of its exemplary, almost symbolic quality.102 Nonetheless, this poem remains one of the most unpleasant and savage of all the Crusading poems. Bevis 9: Hampton, on the other hand, most successfully combines the chivalric ethic with the militant Christian spirit. "Bevis is not only a valiant knight, but also a warrior of God who succeeds in decimating the heathens, freeing the Christians from wicked 63 enemies, and converting Josian to the Christian faith."103 In §ggg gfi Melayne and many of the Charlemagne legends, which emphasize the military prowess of the Christians and the righteousness of their cause, heroic battles are as im- portant as their didactic intention. It is chiefly "the mil- itant and completely intolerant Christianity of the Charle- magne stories that interested the English adapters," yet at the same time these stories were "adapted to the style of the homiletic romances"1ou such as King 2: Tars, which is full of the crusading atmosphere. Joseph 92 Arimathie, another pious Christian poem, is filled with militancy in the name of re- ligion, and its author is blatantly attracted to the many battle descriptions (ll. A8A-61A). A vigorous militant Christian ethic is also evident in Sowdon 9; Babylon, which "tells with compelling energy a story of fantastic violence, crusading indignation, noble devotion, courage and knightly performance in arms, with a gusto that compensates for its "105 All these narratives combine the best lack of polish. and worst of the romances, the chansons g3 geste, and the saints' legends, and this combination is responsible for a narrative like Siege 9: Jerusalem, which is a peculiar work describing a holy war waged as revenge for Christ's death. In sharp contrast to these militant Christian poems, thirteen Middle English works evoke a courtly, chivalric world with all its pageantry, formal ceremonies, jousting, tournaments, entertainment, and sport (Table A, D). Not 6A primarily concerned with religious preaching or Christian militancy, these works present the hero as a courtly knight of arms, engaging in adventures and battles for the damsel in distress, the wronged, or the defenseless. For example, William of Palerne defeats Saxons, who attack Rome and leads the forces for the Queen of Sicily, his mother. Gawain fights against a Scottish challenger and lives up to his re- putation as a courteous, brave knight in Awntyrs off Arthur. Florentyn in Octavian saves Paris from the heathens whereas Sir Triamour and the Earl of Toulous are champions of other just causes. Even Sir Tristrem is a champion of his people against their Irish foes. The Squire of low degree wins re- nown in jousts and remains true to his one love, and Gener- ides, Ipomedon, and Sir Degrevant save innocent women. Yet these heroes are not always engaged in battling; these narra- tives evoke the non-combatant aspects of chivalric life as well--sporting events, music and feasting, and other details of a full social life. Other works, however, question the essence of this chi- valric code and the ideals that it celebrates. Awntyrs off Arthur, for example, attacks chivalric conduct. Guinevere's mother warns of the sins and eventual downfall of the Round Table, stressing the need for controlling the "hauteur and heedlessness"106 of the Arthurian society. One critic even sees the poem as an illustration of actual vices, luxuria 107 and avaritia. Most critics would at least agree that the poem has a primarily religious, didactic intention in 65 exposing the lack of spiritual values in the too-temporal ethic of the Round Table. Similarly, the stanzaic M9333 Arthur condemns the values of King Arthur's court, and Velma Richmond argues that the poem fundamentally points to the spiritual and religious emptiness of the court which ignores man's reason for being.108 It is certainly true that the forces of destruction are embedded in the structure of the chivalric society, and the author stresses the serious, per- haps even tragic, implications of the inadequacies of the chivalric ethic. The author of Sir Gawain and the Green Knight also re- veals deficiencies and flaws in the courtly, chivalric world of Arthur. Obviously, Gawain's courtesy, truth, and loyalty towards his host and the sanctity of his vow are being tested at Bercilak's castle. But, on a larger scale, the very val- ues of the court are questioned not only at the beginning but also at the end of the poem when the court paradoxically assumes Gawain's emblem of shame as an emblem of honor and a symbol of the renown and everlasting glory of the Round Table. The Gawain-poet tests courtly conventions in a subtle and elaborate way without resorting to the didacticism that other English authors apparently found either necessary or appealing. This testing of courtly values occurs in other works as well, including Avowynge 93 King Arthur and Carle off Carlile, which overtly test a knight's loyalty and truth. In five other narratives, King Horn, Sir Perceval g: Galles, 66 Sir Eglamour g£ Artois, Sir Torrent 9; Portyngale, and Eger and Grime, the hero is forced to perform impossible tasks in order to win renown and prove himself worthy of a woman's love. Ywain and Gawain is a variation on this theme. After Ywain's marriage to Alundyne, he leaves for one year, promis- ing to return. Later breaking his vow, Ywain goes mad with grief, recovers, and tries to prove his worthiness. This testing of the hero against the values of the chivalric world is typical of all thirteen of these poems (Table A, E). Six other narratives, including Sir Degare, Lai l Freine, and Sir Launfal, present a courtly, aristocratic world with its delicate behavior and intricate conduct, with- out the militant aspect of chivalric life (Table A, F). There are no jousts, no heroic fighting knights. In Floris and Blancheflur, the author creates a charming, idyllic at- mosphere, fusing the mystery and exotic appeal of the Far East "with the sentimentality and chivalry of the West."109 The Weddynge 9: Sir Gawen and Dame Ragnell also centers on love and chivalric sentiment instead of martial strength and deeds of arms; the loathly lady tests Gawain's kindness, gen- tility, and courtesy rather than his prowess. The Jeaste gfi Syr Gawayne, on the other hand, focuses on the unchivalric behavior of Gawain and twists the familiar courtly conventions into a burlesque.110 The hero ravishes a woman, is discovered by her irate father, and overcomes him and his two sons in battle. After another battle with the third son, which ends in a draw——highly unusual in a typical 67 romance--the two agree to continue fighting when they next meet. The battles resolve nothing. In fact, beaten by her brother before she disappears into the woods, the woman re- mains unvindicated and never returns to the narrative even though she is obviously in distress after Gawain's treatment of her. Not only is Gawain's unchivalric behavior never criticized, but the poem also ends strangely with the court's rejoicing over his good fortune in not encountering the third brother again. The author's main intention seems to be the presentation of a discordant picture of Gawain that would surprise a medieval audience and perhaps amuse them because of the reversal of the well-known conventions and expecta- tions associated with Arthurian knights. The chivalric ethic is relatively unimportant in several Middle English works, particularly Chevalere Assigne and Roberd gi Cisyle with their pointedly didactic messages (Ta- ble A, H). Although Chevalere Assigne does have a courtly setting, a single combat, and instructions on arms and their use; its context is not the idealized world where genteel people behave according to a chivalric code. Instead, the mother of the King of Lyon plots to murder the Queen's seven children. Discovering that her man has not drowned the chil- dren as ordered, the mother puts out his eyes and convinces her son to burn his innocent wife. Finally, however, her wickedness is uncovered, and she is burned at the stake her- self. Besides this most uncourtly behavior, other events oc- cur that are more reminiscent of religious stories or fairy 68 tales than of chivalric romances: bells ring mysteriously, angels appear, and fire and an adder spring from the shield of Enyas. In pointing out the "scenes of violence and bru- tality," Laura Hibbard Loomis concludes that the poem "is wholly without courtliness or chivalry."111 Roberd 2i Cisyle, also totally devoid of chivalric ele- ments, presents instead a decidedly religious ethic: The outline of the plot at once makes it clear that this is a moral and didactic tale. The ac- tion is set in motion not by an intrigue or by some knightly adventure, but alone by the King's pride and God's decision to punish him for it. Clearly in the homiletic tradition, this poem ignores the possibilities for chivalric and courtly embellishments. Although Ag Bone Florence gfi Rome is also set within a religious context, it does contain some chivalric and courtly elements. Typical of these in the first part of the poem are "the arrival of messengers from distant lands; the detailed descriptions of journeys, clothes, armour, costly gifts, pal- ace halls, and battle scenes; and the love between a conven- "113 but these are all sub- tional chivalric knight and lady, ordinate to the primarily homiletic message. The last group of works (Table A, I) is unlike all the previous ones. These narratives seem to have no clearly de- fined ethic and operate instead in a fairy-tale world where right and wrong are polarized, miracles often aid the protag— onist, and the unusual and unexpected are everyday occur- rences. The four tales are all based on well-known folk motifs: Knight 93 Curtesy and the Fair Lady 2: Faguell on the 69 Eaten Heart, Sir Cleges on Unseasonable Blooming, Sir Ama- 9999 on the Grateful Dead, and Romauns 93 Partenay on the Child-birth Taboo and the Enchanted Wife. All except Romauns g: Partenay stay close to their folk material, seldom stray- ing to moralize, religionize, or embellish their basic folk tale. This one poem, however, is highly idiosyncratic. Much of it resembles simple folklore--the taboo, the enchanted mountain, the sparrow hawk castle, and the marriage between a fairy and mortal. Yet other parts seem to be infused with a religious intention, showing the serious consequences of Ray- mond's sin. It is best seen as a combination of many popular conventions and traditional themes with no clear, single in- forming principle. The Middle English narratives do not treat the chivalric ethic with any consistency. Works with courtly settings of- ten borrow elements from the religious and homiletic tradi- tions while religious narratives adorn their moral intentions with chivalric and courtly elements. Courtly love, religious militancy, and heroic qualities are sprinkled throughout many of these works; some acclaim the chivalric values, others question them, and a few reject them. However, except for those firmly grounded in folk traditions or homiletic liter- ature, most of the narratives do not ignore chivalry or the world it implies. 7O EMPHASIS ON THE INDIVIDUAL: THE ROMANCE HERO The focus on the individual in romance literature is perhaps best reflected in its special kind of protagonist-- a lone knight on a quest. Eugene Vinaver notes this as a new, significant literary phenomenon: it seems appropriate to pay attention to the ap- pearance in the Middle Ages of a type of hero whose impact on European imagination was very great, but whose origins are not easy to deter- mine: a knight who goes on a quest, and as soon as one quest is over undertakes another and again another.114 While the origins of this new hero might be uncertain, some of the reasons for his emergence are not. Early medieval writers faced the problem of reconciling the heroes of clas- sical antiquity, of German epic poetry, and of Christian 115 philosophy (imitatio Christi). The heroic and religious ideals, however, prove more compatible than they at first appear for rather than rejecting the classical ideal, the ro- mance hero transforms it. In fact, the Christian context adds a new dimension to the exploits of classical heroes by providing a belief in a life beyond the battlefield: Thus we see a successful transformation of pagan ideals; the thrills of human endeavor are main— tained, but very comfortably accommodated through a recognition that these are not the totality of man's being.11 Romance writers certainly drew upon well-established notions of heroism for their conception of the hero: The chivalry of the Middle Ages itself inherited and absorbed older traditions of heroism, coming not only from the barbarian but also from the 71 Greco-Roman worlds. Like Beowulf, the paradigm of Germanic heroes, the knight was expected to be a great and courageous fighter, a true master of the arms he wielded.117 Clearly, epic and romance heroes share important traits-- they are both known for their prowess and loyalty and both engage in interminable battles. Yet, the hero of epic poetry displays his prowess and wins his glory for a cause not imme- diately determined by personal interest or love, and a spe- cial feature of heroic poetry is the "splendor which irradi- ,,118 ates a hero in his hour of defeat or death. The romance hero is different. Primarily concerned with himself, he is seldom defeated in the kinds of tragic circumstances that help define the epic hero: Unlike the knight of the chivalric theorists, who is ideally a force for justice and stability, the knight of the courtly romance, and in particular the protagonist of the courtly-love literature, is a solitary figure, whose primary concern is self- fulfillment without regard to the community at large. The romance hero's self-consciousness, his solitary condi- tion, and his interest in love largely define his character and thus represent a shift from epic to romance: But it is in the romances of chivalry that the greatest changes in the complexion of the hero are discernible. Translated out of poetic history into realms of pure fiction, the knight strives to be as noble in love as he is in war.120 Raymond Cormier emphasizes a similar distinction: "But for the epic hero after all, heart's desire is not tender, reci- procal love, but action; not self-consciousness, but prowess; 121 not meditation, but lasting glory through and in war." Despite this change in focus, the hero's traits never 72 changed drastically from epic to romance because of the medi- eval method of depicting character, an art dictated by rhe- torical principles and meticulously studied by the learned medieval writer. The correct and best ways of depicting character were laid out in the ever-popular, but dull, rhe- torical handbooks such as Matthew de Vend8me's Ars Versifica- toria122 and Geoffroi de Vinsauf's Poetria Nova and Documen- 23 tum.1 Certainly, the formalized characters in romance are striking to a modern reader who is accustomed to character development and complexity: Character is a concept we find difficult to sup- press. In most Middle English narratives, on the other hand, our concept of character is irrelevant, not to say obtrusive or anomalous. . . . Delinea- tion of character or progressive character develop- ment and change are foreign to most narratives in fourteenth-century England, and the narratives must be made with other materials. Those materials are fundamentally action and description.12 Walter Curry illuminates the use of physical description in The Middle English Ideal 99 Personal Beauty: "descriptions are largely of a set and formal character, and so stereotyped and conventional that we may almost say that there is no dis- 125 Romance does create tinctive English ideal of beauty." highly formalized character portraits precisely because it focuses on the typical and the essential. Consequently, hy- perbole and caricature are never far from the ideal, as Chau- cer's description in Sir Thopas so clearly demonstrates.126 Admittedly, this formalizing causes inevitable problems-—all heroes tend to blur, and the individual gets lost in abstrac- tion: 73 The hero is "a very perfect gentle knight"; and his action consists in having many adventures. The heroine is a beautiful young lady, and needs no action at all. Both may be described at length without being individualized. . . . stock adven- tures can be assigned as well to one knight as to another.1 Fortunately, the romance has a built-in remedy for this dand ger: the monologues and introspection of the characters. "The 'character' of a romance-hero is rather a rehearsed in— terior monologue than a meaningful and unpredictable dialogue with the outside world."128 Although John Stevens views this characteristic negatively, its positive value cannot be de— nied. In romance, characters are defined as much by what they say as what they do. "Facundia, the power of smooth and polished speech, is the very essence of the characters."129 Speech, even when it becomes stylized and ultimately stereo- typed as it does in romance, is still a way of defining the individual, exploring his states of mind, and probing his hu- manity. Courtly romance literature, concerned "with the investi- 130 is thus firmly gation of man's emotions and impulses," fixed on the individual and his feelings. These emotions are typically entangled in love relationships, which act as cata- lysts for adventurous conduct, endless introspection, and perhaps real danger: Love can provide a man with a new and nobler iden- tity and inspire him to great deeds in the service of others, or it can cause a madness that cuts him off from the world and drives him into exile or madness.1 However difficult the obtacles or painful the suffering, the 7A romance hero almost always emerges triumphant. An idealized character embodying the medieval virtues of loyalty, truth, prowess, and generosity, he is usually tested against the chivalric code. In most romance literature, the hero's per- sonal growth is measured by his progress from naivete or ig- norance through introspection, self-awareness, and trials to his emergence into a state of increased knowledge. Table 5 lists the Middle English works according to the varieties of heroes. A typical romance hero appears in only nine works, and even in these, the isolated hero is transformed into a more social protagonist (Table 5, A). Not surprisingly, most of these English heroes are patterned on French originals: Ipo- medon (in both versions), William of Palerne, Ywain, Parton- ope, and Raymond. In Ipomedon A, the daughter of the King of Calabria swears she will marry only the bravest knight, yet she falls in love with Ipomedon, who shows no interest in chivalric activity in her court. After Ipomedon decides to leave, both he and his beloved agonize over their behavior and feelings towards each other, she for over one hundred lines (11. 911-1036) and he more fitfully (ll. 10A9 ff). In subordinating action to contemplation in this poem, the author delights in describing the changes brought about by love in the characters' perception of their world and their own individuality. In addition to this introspection and love interest, skill in tournaments and battles also marks :1> 0 CD \OCDNOU'l-EUUN—i NA 0 C7 tum-A [T] NO‘Ul-LTUUNA _I OKOCDNCfiUT-L‘JUUN—b ...l_.s_s LBW-3 75 Table 5 VARIETIES OF HEROES Works that present a romance hero: Generides Ipomedon A Ipomedon B Partonope of Blois Romauns of Partenay Sir Gawain and the Green Knight Sir Tristrem William of Palerne Ywain and Gawain Works that present an idealized hero: Awntyrs off Arthur Weddynge of Sir Gawen and Dame Ragnell Works that present a hero whose love is rewarded: Eger and Grime A. Sir Eglamour of Artois Horn Child 5. Sir Torrent of Portyngale King Horn 6. Squyr of Lowe Degre Works that present an innocent, suffering heroine: Bone Florence of Rome Earl of Toulous Emare King of Tars Knight of Curtesy and the Fair Lady of Faguell Octavian Sir Triamour Works that present a militant Christian hero: Ashmole Sir Firumbras Duke Roland and Sir Otuel of Spain Fillingham Firumbras Joseph of Arimathie Otuel a Knight Otuel and Roland Richard Coer de Lyon Roland and Vernagu Sege of Melayne Siege of Jerusalem Song of Roland Sowdon of Babylon Titus and Vespasian '1] .II'UJN—l C) H C4 U'l-It‘UUN—‘l LION-A 76 Table 5 (cont'd.) Works that present a heroic character: Lyfe of Alisaunder Morte Arthure Sir.Orfeo Sir Perceval of Galles Alexander A Alexander C King Horn Libeaus Desconus (DN (PUT Works that present a folk hero: Gamelyn 2. Havelok Works that present an exemplary religious character: Roberd of Cisyle 2. Sir Gowther Works that present characters for a didactic purpose: Amis and Amiloun 6. Guy of Warwick Amoryus and Cleopes 7. Morte Arthur Athelston 8. Sir Amadace Bevis of Hampton 9. Sir Cleges Chevalere Assigne 10. Sir Isumbras Works that present another kind of hero: Avowynge of King Arthur Floris and Blancheflur Sir Degrevant 77 Ipomedon as a true romance hero. William 99 Palerne is the only other English work at all like Ipomedon A in its exploration of the painful and disrup- tive energy unleashed by passion and love. Instead of marry- ing a Greek prince, Melior runs away with her lover William. Disguised in bear skins, they set out as exiles, encountering many hardships and ordeals, yet even though they are hunted by society, the poem depicts their idyllic love and devotion. William eventually becomes more than just Melior's protector and lover; in defending his patrimony and regaining the throne of Sicily, he attains the status of a true chivalric knight: William is deprived of his inheritance and grows up in simple surroundings, learning there the es- sential virtues of justice and loyalty, until at last he comes again into his deserved rank and seizes his inherited power as a particularly worthy ruler.132 The poem successfully combines an endearing picture of Wil- liam as a courtly lover, valiant knight, and ideal ruler--a portrait more complete than any other in these Middle English narratives. Unlike William 99 Palerne, Ywain and Gawain is not con- cerned with an ideal, exemplary hero, but with a flawed pro- tagonist whose trials are caused by his own moral lapse. Ywain fails his test in a way typical of courtly romance, by breaking a vow: In contrast to Chrétien's hero, Ywain sins against Alundyne not so much by his lack of love and his failure to understand the nature of true communion with the beloved as by his breach of faith. This 78 central episode is much simpler and at the same time has a more moral flavour in the English poem than in the French.1 The poem's exploration of truth and loyalty, not of courtly love, is even suggested by its title, which points to a so- cial relationship, not the solitariness of the French Ivain. Despite this, Ywain's adventures, the test of his truth as a chivalric knight, and his progress from selfishness to aware- ness are all part of the make-up of a typical romance hero. The vow as a test of the idealized romance hero, to- gether with its social implications, is also a significant element in Partonope 99 99999 and Romauns 99 Partenay. Ray- mond's failure, however, causes repercussions different than those in a usual romance: his wife Melusine is forced to wan- der the earth as a specter. Instead of ennobling him or en— ligtening him about the nature of love and commitment, Ray- mond's suffering, loneliness, and grief cause him to reject earthly life and devote himself to prayer and repentance. The usual testing pattern is seriously modified by fairy-tale elements and a distinctly moral, religious focus. Partonope, on the other hand, ultimately wins back his wife after en- during hardships and even madness. His character is far more typical of the romance hero who is usually reunited with his lover after enduring a period of testing, solitary questing, and separation. Sir Tristrem offers yet another twist to this basic theme. Although Tristrem and Ysonde are repeatedly separated and united, the story does not end with their final reunion, 79 nor does it follow the pattern of the French original with its tragic love story. Instead, the poem, which even ex- cludes the heroine from its title, focuses on Tristrem and his chivalric adventures and military prowess: The meeting of the lovers is not told with any more sympathy or emphasis than Tristrem's fights against giants and dragons. By confining himself to the mere outlines of the plot and to a simple retelling of the events, the poet completely alters the character of the story. It becomes the history of a fatal error, by which a noble and promising knight is brought to misery.13 Even though the story sidesteps the implications and explora- tion of courtly love by its deletion of introspection, love analysis, and monologue, thereby diminishing Tristrem's stat- ure, he nonetheless belongs to the romance tradition of a hero who is inextricably bound to a woman who determines his actions, his feelings about himself, and his social responsi- bilities. Sir Gawain and the Green Knight presents a hero differ- ent from other romance heroes; his adventures are not set in motion either by a woman's love or by his desire to prove himself worthy of her. Instead, by accepting the challenge to the honor of the entire Round Table by the Greeen Knight, whose sudden, inexplicable appearance disrupts the holiday festivities, Gawain plunges himself into unknown, frighten- ing adventures. More than other heroes, he is a pathetic figure, venturing alone and apprehensive through a desolate landscape until he discovers human company and comfort at Bercilak's castle. His testing is also unusual. He mistak- enly worries about his approaching encounter with the Green 80 Knight while he is unaware of the real test by Bercilak's wife, who succeeds in tempting him more because of his fears than her charms. By the end of the narrative, however, Ga- wain does gain some self-awareness and somewhat deeper un- derstanding of virtue and truthfulness. Another woman-seducer tempts the hero in Generides, but she fails completely. After passing this first test, Gener— ides leaves the court, proves his worth by feats of arms, wins the love of Clarionas, and helps his father regain his throne. Although Generides resembles the romance hero in these ways, he is a flat character; the author attempts lit- tle characterization, hardly any analysis, and no sense of the protagonist's initiation into society. Instead of focusing on the testing, initiation, or suf- fering of the hero, two works present an idealized picture of the chivalric, courtly knight (Table 5, B). Both Weddynge 99 Sir Gawen and Dame Ragnell and Awntyrs off Arthur provide a picture of Gawain as the Ideal Knight. In the first work, Gawain is the epitome of a true knight in his fidelity to his liege lord and in other social graces. The military aspect of his chivalric behavior, glorified in Awntyrs off Arthur, extols Gawain's valor against the Scottish knight Sir Gal- eron. The unqualified, thoroughly idealized portrait of a courtly, chivalric hero in these two poems is highly unusual among Middle English narratives. Far more typical is the knightly hero who must overcome obstacles and undergo trials before he and his loved one can 81 be happily reunited. Six works contain such a portrait of a hero who must prove his worth before he married the woman he loves (Table 5, C). In Eger and Crime, because a proud woman scorns any but the best knight as her suitor, Eger actively seeks renown. In Sir Eglamour 99 Artois and Torrent 99 Por— tyngale, cruel fathers impose tasks on the heroes before giving their daughters in marriage. In King Horn, the hero himself decides he must gain renown before being worthy of Rimenild, but he is later exiled by her angry father; in Horn Child, Rimenild persuades Horn to leave for a seven— year trial period. A similar test period is imposed on the Squire of Low Degree by the King of Hungary in a bizarre test of the Squire and the Princess. Despite the superfi- cial differences, these six narratives are primarily con- cerned with a hero whose happiness is postponed until he passes certain tests.' Because these tests are external, re- quiring no self-examination or re-evaluation of goals and ideals, the heroes require little beyond stamina, faithful- ness, and prowess to succeed. None of these heroes is mem- orable for his depth of personality, introspection, or growth as a character--all elements of a typical romance hero. Seven other narratives (Table 5, D) also depart dras- tically from the usual conception of a romance hero. Instead of focusing on a chivalric knight, these works center on an innocent, persecuted woman. Suffering hardships or under— going ordeals usually caused by false accusations, these women also depart from the portrait of romance heroines 82 since they are primarily religious exempla of patience, faith, and innocence. Florence, for example, undergoes a series of ordeals: she is exiled, nearly raped, sold to mer- chants, and almost shipwrecked before retreating from the world as a nun and becoming a famous healer, who forgives her many false accusers. The daughter of the King of Tars, another exemplary woman, marries a sultan in order to prevent him from killing her father's knights. She pays lip service to his gods while secretly maintaining her own religion, and finally converts the Sultan after miraculously changing their formless lump of flesh into a human child: The naive piety of the tale is perhaps its most striking feature. Indeed, piety seems to have been the author's chief concern, for he scatters relig- ious allusions broadcast through the poem, empha- sizes the heroine's saintly resignation and forti- tude, contrasts the saving power of the Christian Triune God with the false helpless gods of the Sar— acens, and sets forth the articles of Christian faith in what is practically a sermon greached by the princess to her penitent husband.1 5 The religious tradition also affects the concept of the hero in many pseudo-historical narratives (Table 5, E). In all of these, the hero is a militant Christian with morally superior forces who fights against the heathens. In Joseph 99 Arimathie, an extreme example, the hero has divine sanc- tions and even receives heavenly aid in his battle against the King of Babylon. Naturally, these narratives have little use for a romance hero who is tested, goes off alone on a mysterious quest, is preoccupied with self-questioning, or is obsessed with love. Instead, these heroes are Christian 83 champions with a clear social and religious purpose. Other works present a hero unlike the romance hero and unlike either the religious exemplar or champions of Christi- anity (Table 5, F). These pseudo-histories bring out the heroic, epic qualities of their protagonists. In the three Alexander narratives, the Middle English adapters try to transform Alexander into a heroic figure of epic stature. The hero is thus not a medieval knight representing the spirit of chivalry, but a heroic superman belonging to the 136 epic tradition. The heroic or epic hero dominates other narratives as well. The alliterative Morte Arthure, for ex- ample, is deliberately heroic in theme, sentiment, and struc- 137 ture with Arthur as the Christian Warrior King conforming to the medieval conception of a tragic hero: The framework, the rise and sudden fall of a noble king, indeed agrees with the concept of the medi— eval tragedy of fortune, but the poem is undeniably epic in its breadth and heroic scale. Arthur is magnified so that he dominates the action, and the story is presented with a constant awareness of its grandeur3§n a succession of brilliantly dramatic scenes. Two other narratives in this group, Libeaus Desconus and Sir Perceval 99 Galles, present a perspective on the typical courtly romance hero different from that of their originals. The French sources clearly intend a portrait of a true ro- mance hero: his growth as a knight through a maturation and initiation process. The Middle English versions, however, totally transform their originals into tales of adventure 139 that illustrate only the valor and prowess of the heroes. For example, the English author excuses Libeaus's dalliance 8A with the Lady of the Ile d'Or because he was waylaid, not by her physical charms, but by her magical charms: "Wip fantasme and fairie / pus sche blered hie i3e / pat evell mot sche prive!" (ll. 1522-2A). The whole learning process and growth are turned upside down by such changes. This same kind of simplification transforms the Perceval story. His isolated childhood is not a meaningful development towards chivalrous perfec- tion, but hardly more than a curious adventure which already throws light on the hero's undaunted spirit. His naive recklessness is only seen as the natural consequence of his peculiar upbringing, not as a first step138 a complex process or maturing and initiation. More like Libeaus Desconus and Sir Perceval 99 Galles than true romance, King Horn portrays a hero lacking courtly graces, but demonstrating sheer energy and strength as a fighter. Both King Horn and Horn Child, which evoke the world of Old English battle poetry,1u1 are closer to epic than romance. The hero of 999 99999 also lacks most romance traits and is more like an epic harpist than a courtly lover or questing knight. When his wife is abducted, he does not 80 to the Holy Land as a pilgrim or immerse himself in bat- tles, but instead wanders in the woods for ten years, taming animals with this music. Even when he finally does enter the fairy kingdom, he wins Heurodis back through his music, not by feats of arms or tests of his chivalric virtue. He is a most untypical romance hero and is closer to folklore, Celtic myth, and epic. Folklore also influences two other narratives, Havelok 85 and Gamelyn (Table 5, G), which bring humor, realism, and earthiness to their portraits of the hero. Gamelyn, in par- ticular, is a popular folk hero, a Robin Hood character who regains his rightful inheritance and brings justice to the corrupt law courts. Havelok, living among the laboring classes, displays his superior strength in stone putting, not in jousting, and his generosity and loyalty to the lower classes, not to courtly knights and ladies. Both heroes champion the causes of the poor and become almost exemplary figures in their pursuit of justice. The exemplary intention is much stronger in two relig- ious tales, Roberd 99 Cisyle and Sir Gowther (Table 5, H). Gowther is usually seen as a male Cinderella, a type of saint, or an ideal model--all far removed from a chivalric knight: The evolution from devil to saint is a heightened exposition of the Christian belief in Redemption. However grievous his sins, any man may secure the blessings of heaven; he must simply choose God and so conduct his temporal life that he looks al- ways to eternity. Roberd 99 Cisyle revolves around the figure of Robert the King, who becomes an exemplar for the necessity of humility and penance. Like Gowther, he belongs to a religious and hagiographic tradition, not to romance. His laments, pray- ers, and utter humility give poignancy to the poem's relig- ious message: "one does not lightly forget the brief stern speech of the Angel to the raving king nor the plaintiveness 1A3 of the poor fool's prayer." The sermonizing aspects, so overt in these religious 86 exempla, reappear in a slightly different guise in other, more or less didactic, homiletic works (Table 5, I). The heroes of these ten works are neither questing knights nor chivalric heroes engaged in endless battle or introspection, but figures used specifically for didactic ends. In Amoryus and Cleopes, for example, the secret love of the seemingly perfect hero and heroine moves onto a religious plane when the hermit brings the lovers back to life, baptizes them, and then converts the Persians to the true faith. The author ma- nipulates the characters into a conversion story. The author of Athelston is even more explicit about his conception of the hero. At the beginning, he disclaims any interest in courtly knights or their exploits and proclaims that his poem will center instead on "ffalseness, hou it wil ende" (l. 8). He returns to this theme at the end of his work as well: "Now Iesu, bat is Hevene—kyng, / Leve neuere traytour have betere endyng, / But swych dome ffor to dye" (11. 810-12). Didacticism also underlies the conception of the hero in Amis and Amiloun, which actually begins in a courtly setting with two incomparable knights and Ami's secret, adulterous love for the Duke's daughter. However, after the "romance" beginning, the narrative switches to a human and humane treatment of the bonds of loyalty and friendship between Amis and Amiloun, between Amiloun and the young boy who cares for him as a leper, and between Belisaunt and Amis, who agree to sacrifice their children for their friend Amiloun. 87 The stanzaic Morte Arthur also begins with a courtly setting and a romantic conception of character in Lancelot, the true chivalric knight, who maintains an adulterous rela- tionship with Guinevere. The poet, however, transforms the adulterous lovers into religious exempla and thus seriously modifies the romance concept of the courtly hero and heroine. The poem culminates in the quasi-mysticism surrounding Ar- thur's trip to Avalon, Guinevere's assumption of holy vows, and Lancelot's becoming a hermit-priest. This mingling of courtly and religious traits is also popular in other Middle English poems. 99y99 99 Hampton and 99y 99 Warwick are the classic examples of a typical romance hero transformed into a religious, exemplary char- acter fighting the Saracens in the Holy Land and dying in sanctity at the narrative's end. Sir Isumbras also combines religious and chivalric elements in its portrait of the hero, beginning with a description of a typical romance knight: I will yow telle of a knyghte, pat was bothe hardy and wyghte And doghty man of dede. His name was called sir Ysumbras: Swilke a knyghte, als he was, Now lyffes nane in lede (11. 7-12). The next twelve lines supply even more details of his knightly qualities, and the author apparently wants to "in- terest his audience in the hero and at the same time to "1“” The nar- criticize traditional ideals of knighthood. rative then turns didactic with the knight's humility tested and his pride punished. Even Isumbras's faith itself is tested when the Sultan tempts him with earthly goods to 88 renounce his faith, but Isumbras remains steadfast, working as a blacksmith for seven years, fighting the Saracens, and traveling to the Holy Land as a pilgrim: "The poem seems to combine two quite different patterns: the punishment and pu- rification of a sinner and the prolonged demonstration of patience and constancy in adversity."1M5 Three other narratives (Table 5, J) are equally distant from the romance tradition with its typical chivalric knight as hero. Avowyng9 99 King Arthur does center on the vows of four famous knights: Arthur, Gawain, Kay, and Baldwin al- though there is no real courtly romance hero. The portrait of Kay as a braggart, taunter, and inept knight is as de- lightful as the unromantic portrait of Arthur as "a sports- "1A6 The man, fond of conviviality and practical jokes. poem's author is not interested in portraying romance heroes or their typical activities or problems, but simply in bor- rowing some pOpular romance figures for a tale of almost pure entertainment. Floris and Blancheflur is even further re- moved from the romance tradition. In tone and characteriza- tion, this poem is close to the fairy tale with its magical fantasy, and its hero and heroine are simply innocent child- ren whose idyllic love conquers all obstacles. Romance tra— ditions are not significant or useful at all in understanding the treatment of character in this poem. They do, however, illuminate the hero of Sir Degrevant, which contains much of the typical love story of romance with all its convolutions. Not the usual swooning, love—sick knight, Degrevant is 89 light-hearted, flippant, playful, and teasing. He combines a fresh, down-to-earth vitality that few other heroes of me- dieval literature possess. Instead of engaging in solitary adventures, jousts with unknown opponents, and tests of his character, Degrevant is involved in a realistic feudal prob- lem with a neighboring earl raiding his lands (ll. 1-528). The poem also continues beyond the marriage of the courtly- love romance, and its last fifteen lines summarize the lives of Degrevant and Melior: they have seven children and live happily for thirty years before the death of Melior and the murder of Degrevant by a sultan. The heroes of Middle English metrical narratives range along a broad spectrum from the simple folk hero in Gamelyn to the courtly lover in Ipomedon A., Traits from the epic chansons 99 g9999 as well as religious exempla often color the narratives in varied ways so that the courtly hero shades into the epic hero or the religious chivalric knight in ex- pected and unexpected ways. The Middle English poets prac- ticed no single, clear-cut method in experimenting with the different conceptions of the hero. Sometimes their efforts produced complex, vivid heroes such as Degrevant, but more often, simple, uninspired characters like the Squire of Low Degree, Eger, or Tristrem. I The Middle English hero is, however, distinctive in his simplicity and flatness. Unlike his French counterpart, the English hero is not known for his self-awareness, his passion 90 and ennobling love for a woman, his introspection, his soli- tary quests, or his initiation into courtly society. Few of the Middle English authors use the hero as a vehicle for probing man's emotions and their place in a social world. The focus on the individual in the French romance has been displaced by the English emphasis on the moral and didactic implications of the story. USE OF THE QUEST PATTERN The fifth characteristic of romance, the quest pattern, is taken as a commonplace of romance literature, sometimes "1A7 considered "too obvious to discuss. However, many crit- ics, including W. H. Auden, Eric Auerbach, and Eugene Vina— ver,1H8 do not share this reluctance to discuss the quest, and they assume what Robert Hanning states explicitly: "The form of chivalric romance made the quest of the single hero its organizing principle."1u9 It certainly seems that much of the heroism in romance is inextricably bound to this quest pattern, in which a solitary knight journeys through unknown lands and faces unknown adversaries while still acting cour- teously and nobly at all times. Because the knightly hero is often ignorant of the identities of his opponents or their reasons for testing him, his movement through the haphazard perils, obstacles, and tests usually involves increasing awareness. Thus the hero's private experiences are at the heart of the narrative. 91 This active acceptance of life as an adventure, rather than as a battle for endurance or an attempt to protect hard-won security in an enclosed place against threatening, unknown forces, leads the knight into situations which challenge his accep- tance of social values and therefore offer an al- ternative580 an identity defined by forces outside himself. The quest, whatever its immediate cause, usually provides a means for self-fulfillment or discovery of identity; it is always a private experience involving the changing conscious- ness of a chivalric knight. While still retaining these qualities, later romances, notably the Grail legends, turned the secular quest into a religious experience.151 If the quest, regardless of its secular or religious na- ture, is the main structuring principle of romance, then the Middle English works should follow this basic pattern if they are truly romances. However, few of them actually contain a quest. Instead, they follow other, related structural pat- terns: test/reward, sin/punishment, separation/reunion of loved ones, and exile/return. Table 6 separates the Middle English poems according to these familiar patterns. Although these five categories are broadly related, they are signifi- cantly different from the stereotypic quest of romance and point to basic and substantial changes among the groups of narratives in terms of emphasis, presentation and organiza- tion of similar material, and authorial intentions. The pseudo-histories do not fall into any of these categories because they are tied to their historical sources for the structuring of their material. (DQOO'D) J: U1 O‘CD N (DO-00"” 92 Table 6 QUESTS AND OTHER STRUCTURAL PATTERNS Quests: Unknown, mysterious quest: Sir Gawain and the Green Knight Quest for renown or glory: Eger and Crime Guy of Warwick Ipomedon A Ipomedon B Squyr of Lowe Degre Ywain and Gawain Quest for identity: Sir Degare Quest for a beloved: Bevis of Hampton Generides Sir Eglamour of Artois Sir Torrent of Portyngale Sir Triamour Quest for a stolen child: Reinbrun, Son of Gij Quest as rite of passage: Libeaus Desconus Sir Perceval of Galles Quest as journey toward God: Guy of Warwick Richard Coer de Lyon Roberd of Cisyle Sir Gowther Sir Isumbras 93 Table 6 (cont'd.) B. Test/Reward: ——‘-—\ AOKOCDNC‘U'IKUJN-e _.s N ._\_\ SW C) ._-| 0 U1 @U‘l-t’WN—b U 0 O \OCDNONUTJIWN-A 10. Amis and Amiloun Avowynge of King Arthur Carle off Carlile Earl of Toulous Grene Knight Roberd of Cisyle Sir Amadace Sir Cleges Sir Eglamour of Artois Sir Isumbras Sir Torrent of Portyngale Syre Gawene and the Carle of Carelyle Turke and Gowin Weddynge of Sir Gawen and Dame Ragnell Ywain and Gawain Sin/Punishment: Athelston Chevalere Assigne Gamelyn Havelok Octavian Sir Triamour Separation/Reunion of loved ones: Bone Florence of Rome Emare Floris and Blancheflur Horn Child Jeaste of Syr Gawayne King Horn Knight of Curtesy and the Fair Lady of Faguell Octavian Partonope of Blois Romauns of Partenay Sir Degare Sir Eglamour of Artois Sir Launfal Sir Orfeo Sir Torrent of Portyngale Sir Triamour Sir Tristrem Squyr of Lowe Degre 1 w visionla ODNONU'l-EUON—I \OGJNJCfiU'I-E‘WN—fi 0. 9A Table 6 (cont'd.) Exile/Return: Bevis of Hampton Havelok Horn Child Sir Tristrem William of Palerne Pseudo-histories or legendary accounts: Alexander A Alexander B Alexander C Arthour and Merlin Arthur Ashmole Sir Firumbras Destruction of Troy Duke Roland and Sir Otuel of Spain Fillingham Firumbras History of the Holy Grail Joseph of Arimathie Laud Troy Book Lyfe of Alisaunder Merlin Morte Arthur Morte Arthure Otuel a Knight Otuel and Roland Roland and Vernagu Seege of Troye Sege of Melayne Siege of Jerusalem Siege of Thebes Song of Roland Sowdon of Babylon Titus and Vespasian Miscellaneous patterns: Amoryus and Cleopes Awyntyrs off Arthur Cambridge Alexander-Cassamus Fragment Guy and Colbrond King of Tars Lai 1e Freine Romauns of Partenay Sir Degrevant 95 A. Quest: Of the Middle English narratives, only Sir Gawain and the Green Knight follows the classic quest pattern where a solitary knight sets out from the safety and security of so- ciety into unknown territory to face frightening adventures. Yet the Gawain-poet twists the idea of the unknown adversary by substituting a mere woman and the Green Knight, whom Ga- wain already knows, for the usual giant, dragon, or bold knight. Similarly, Gawain is not threatened by armed combat in a hostile wilderness, but by social intercourse in a seem- ingly unthreatening castle. Nineteen other Middle English works involve some sort of quest, search or extensive journey (Table 6, A). Unlike many French romances, these works do not have a quest simply for the sake of adventure, but the quest for specific ends within the framework of the story. Some of the heroes search for glory or renown. Eger, Guy, and the Squire of Low Degree each leave the court specifically to win the hand of the woman he loves, and this also seems to be true of Ipomedon although his exact motivation is never made explicit. In all these poems, the quest is a form of testing in which the hero must prove himself. An even more directed and specific quest inspires Sir Degare's adventures as he searches for his father and ulti- mately his own identity. Other narratives are similar in their purposeful search. Heraud's search for Guy's stolen child sets in motion the action of Reinbrun, and in Sir 96 Triamour, Sir Torrent 99 Portyngale, and Sir Eglamour 99 A9- tois, the hero searches for his lost love. The heroes of both Generides and Bevis 99 Hampton not only rescue the woman they love, but also travel to distant lands to defeat the en- emy. These works are related through the hero's quest, which usually brings about the reunion of a family, the establish- ment of rightful rule, or the confirmation of a knight's worth. Both Libeaus Desconus and Sir Perceval 99 Galles modify the hero's quest for identity found in the French originals. Although these narratives still recount the he- ro's progress from youth to maturity, the underlying idea of initiation and the deliberate structuring principle have been lost. The quest assumes a religious complexion in five other narratives. Both Guy 99 Warwick and Richard Coer 99 Lyon present exemplary figures; Guy's life represents man's jour- ney from secular to religious ideals, whereas Richard's ad- ventures are part of a Crusade rather than a quest, and he neither changes nor journeys closer to God, but merely con- tinues killing Saracens. Sir Gowther, however, moves from seeming damnation to sainthood, and Robert of Cisyle pro- gresses from sin through repentance to forgiveness. Sir Isumbras most explicitly combines the external adventures of a quest with the internal progress toward piety as his life becomes an allegorical quest for God.152 97 B. Test/Reward: This structuring principle is central to the variants of the Gawain story, which retain the testing of Gawain with- out a quest (Table 6, B). The Grene Knight, however, only partially follows this pattern since Sir Bredbeddle's delib— erate challenge of Gawain's virtue partially succeeds, and Gawain fails the test. Nonetheless, Gawain suffers neither anguish nor remorse, and the tale ends happily with Gawain and Sir Bredbeddle's return to the court. In the two narra- tives concerning the Carl of Carlisle, Gawain's courtesy is contrasted to Kay's and Baldwin's churlishness and results in the breaking of a magic enchantment, an act of salvation for someone else. Gawain himself reaps a reward for his courtesy and gentility in the Weddynge 99 Sir Gawen and Dame Ragnell when his loathly lady becomes a beautiful woman. The test/reward pattern also functions in Sir Eglamour 99 Artois and Sir Torrent 99 Portyngale, in which the two heroes are tested by cruel fathers. When they triumph, they are not immediately rewarded, but undergo many trials before being united with their loved ones. The Squyr 99 Lowe Degre also follows this pattern, and Sir Isumbras may be included since Isumbras"s patience is tested and rewarded even though his sin of pride is also punished. A humorous twist to the basic pattern occurs in 999 Cleges. The hero, whose poverty seems to be a test of his faith and patience, is rewarded by the miraculous appearance of cherries growing in his garden. Later, the three men who 98 each demand one third of Cleges' reward test him to see if he is true to his word. He is, and they share the twelve blows that Cleges has requested. Afterward, Cleges receives his legitimate reward, property and a stewardship. A more serious exploration of the repercussions of keeping one's word is found in Sir Amadace and Amis and Ami- 9999, which both involve the possibility of human sacrifice. Having pledged one half of all he receives to a white knight who aids him, Amadace almost sacrifices his wife and child to fulfill his pledge, but is prevented by the knight who then commends his truth and honor. Amis and Amiloun provides an even more complete and painful testing story. Because of his loyalty to his friend, Amiloun becomes a beggar and leper, and Amis actually slits his children's throats in order to restore his friend's health. Although the children are later brought back to life, and the narrative ultimately ends hap- pily, the story emphasizes the misery and suffering the char- acters endure before their reward. Roberd 99 Cisyle also focuses on the suffering and anguish of its hero. He is fi- nally rewarded by regaining his throne, but only after harsh penance and deep sorrow. The Romauns 99 Partenay carries this tendency to focus on suffering to an extreme. The Count of Lusignan's broken vow causes misery that is never softened by his reunion with his wife or by any reward for undergoing anguish and penance. This work only partially fits the es- tablished pattern. 99 C. Sin/Punishment: Since many Middle English works have a didactic ten- dency, the sin/punishment pattern is not surprising as an extension of the common moralizing impulse. Usually, a story moves towards restoration of the original order after a usurper or false accuser has dislocated the lawful state of affairs. In these six works (Table 6, C), justice is finally accomplished and the guilty punished, but only after many characters have suffered. Gamelyn, the only work not directly affecting the rulers of a state, relates the story of the youngest brother who regains his inheritance, which was appropriated by the oldest brother who is hanged at the end of the work. In Havelok, Godard, who usurps the power and tries to murder Havelok, is himself killed. Wymond, the false accuser in Athelston who causes all the near disasters and executions, is denounced, quartered and hanged. In two other narratives, an evil or cruel mother-in-law falsely ac- cuses the Queen. In Chevalere Assigne, she tries to murder the seven children and burn the mother at the stake, but is found out and suffers that fate herself. After falsely ac- cusing the wife of adultery and bearing bastards, the mother- in-law in Octavian plants a false lover so the innocent wife is then exiled. Only after a long separation is the wife vindicated and her false accuser burned. Another false accu- sation of adultery is committed in Sir Triamour. The false steward is killed by the dog whose master had tried to help the innocent wife. In all these narratives, a misdeed or 1OO sin is the motivating factor for all subsequent action. D. Separation/Reunion: The separation/reunion of loved ones is one of the most popular structural pattern, occurring in fourteen of the Mid- dle English works, with variations in four others (Table 6, D). In six poems (King Horn, Horn Child, Sir Triamour, Bone Florence 99 Rome, Emare, and Octavian), a false accusation leads to the exile of one of the lovers. In the first two, the man is exiled; in the remaining works, the innocent woman is outcast. In two other works, Sir Eglamour 99 Artois and Sir Torrent 99 Portyngale, while the heroes are away perform- ing impossible tasks, their lovers are sent into exile with newborn children, but through various twists of plot, these families are finally reunited. 999 99999 is the only work in which the lovers are separated by an abduction, and the couple is not reunited until Orfeo slips into the fairy king- dom and wins her back through the granting of a wish. In Sguyr 99 Lowe Degre, the Squire must endure a seven—year test in order to be reunited with his beloved. A broken promise causes the separation of the lovers in both Sir Launfal and Partonope 99_99999. Launfal regains his fairy mistress only when he is about to be executed for failing to bring her be— fore the court as a witness. Partonope, on the other hand, actively wins Melior back, but only after going mad, nearly starving to death in the forest, and defeating knights in feats of arms. Sir Deggre, which entails the separation of a 101 mother from her son and both from the fairy knight-father, follows this structural pattern although other circumstances also complicate the story line. The last work that revolves around separation and reunion, Floris and Blancheflur chroni- cles the adventures of Floris in his search for Blancheflur, a captive maiden sold to Babylonian merchants. Finding her in the Emir's harem, Floris wins both her release and their marriage. Four narratives, however, twist this popular plot. Like Partonope and Launfal, Raymond in the Romauns 99 Partenay breaks his promise to his wife, but unlike them, he remains separated from her for life. This is unusual for romance, which almost always ends happily with reunion and marriage. In another variation, Jeaste 99 Syr Gawayne burlesques this basic pattern as Gawain returns to the court while the woman he has ravished disappears into the woods forever. The nar- rative ends with no search for the separated lover, no fur- ther plot development, and obviously no reunion. The Knight _9 Curtesy and the Fair Lady 99 Faguell also begins with a separation, but ends with the deaths of the hero and heroine, not their happy reunion. Similarly, Sir Tristrem recounts various separations and reunions, but the final outcome is tragic. E. Exile/Return: Although this structural principle is a variation of the separation/reunion pattern, it is used in these five 102 narratives in connection with overt political intrigue (Table 6, E). Threatened by someone who has already killed his father the King or who tries to usurp control of the govern- ment, the young hero is saved by a faithful retainer, who 152 then accompanies him into exile. In all of these works except Sir Tristrem, which alters the pattern as it did sepa— ration/reunion, the rescue of the future king from his ene- mies sets in motion the long progress from an exiled prince to a ruling monarch. F. Pseudo-histories: Twenty-six narratives fall into the category of pseudo- histories or historical legends. While these poems are col- ored by motifs borrowed from popular works like romances, their intention remains clearly historical. Since they are translations or adaptations of historical works, they follow structural patterns determined by their source materials. The authors' intention is to preserve historical information, not to structure their sources for specific literary meaning or artistic value. 0. Miscellaneous patterns: The remaining eight narratives do not fit easily into any of the popular patterns although some manipulate motifs found in many of the other works. Guy and Colbrond, for example, is a short stanzaic poem of 633 lines surviving in only one manuscript. Taken from the extremely popular Guy 99 103 Warwick, this poem recounts the single combat between Guy and Colbrond, the Danish giant; the last third of the poem briefly relates Guy's decision to become a hermit and his message to his wife before he dies. Because the narrative is so short, its design is not elaborate, and it simply recounts one of Guy's most exciting exploits without intending to tell a complete story or develop any complex meaning. The Cambridge Alexander-Cassamus Fragment of only 566 lines is related to the legends of Alexander the Great through its characters and setting in the besieged city, which are not, however, particularly relevant to the poem's Court of Love. In addition, approximately the last hundred lines switch to the besiegers' camp where Marceyn lectures Clarus on courtesy. Because of the poem's incompleteness and the abrupt change in the narrative, its meaning is impossible to determine; it may be primarily a historical account or es- sentially a didactic narrative. The Awntyrs off Arthur, a curious conflation of two con- tradictory, unintegrated parts, is best viewed as two sepa- rate poems, as Ralph Hanna suggests: Awntyrs A, 11. 1-338 and 703-15, and Awntyrs 9, 11. 339-702.153 This division makes sense in terms of the meaning of each part. Awntyrs A is basically a version of the Trental 99 99. Gregory, which en- tails "the appearance of a female in torments, who has been punished for her want of chastity, pride, and vanity, and whose salvation is procured by a certain number of masses "15“ said for her soul. Awntyrs 9 includes the Arthurian 10A court, a rude challenger, and a battle between a knight of the Round Table and the outsider. Awntyrs 9, unlike Awntyrs A, places pragmatic value in the wealth of the Round Table and sees its ci- vility as a powerful virtue; at the end of Awntyrs 9, Galeron and his lady are included within the or- der of chivalry, where their undeniable bravery and beauty may be enhanced by th959ddition of more ab- stract virtues of gentility. Amoryus and Cleopes, John Metham's poem of 2211 lines, contains echoes of the Alexander romances, the Pyramus-Thisbe 156 Its Persian legend, and the stories of Troilus and Jason. setting is obviously borrowed from the heroic Alexander leg- ends, but its intent is religious. The poem ends with the conversion of the Persians after a hermit miraculously brings the two lovers back to life. The A99g 99 9999 also has a religious bias in its story of a Christian princess marrying a Sultan to save the lives of her father's soldiers. While combining exotic descrip- tions with other motifs from romance and folklore, the tale is didactic and religious and does not conform to any of the other typical structural patterns. Sir Degrevant is a composite with many courtly elements such as the secret love between Degrevant and the Earl's daughter, the three-day tournament, the treacherous steward, the faithful servant, and elaborate descriptions and details, but there is no exile, no false accusation, no real testing. The Earl, Degrevant's enemy, permits the marriage without any of the obstacles, impossible tasks, exiles, or adventures that most heroes must endure. Instead of following typical 105 testing patterns for his plot, the author simply combines conventional courtly motifs with realistic details for a lively, entertaining story without any moral or didactic in- tention. 999 99 Freine,213A0-line fragment of the English ver- sion of Marie de France's story, combines familiar motifs, especially that of the child who is abandoned by her mother and eventually reunited with her family. The end of the story, missing in the English version, is the crux of the story: the knight, pressured by his vassals, deserts his lover Freine to take a proper bride who turns out to be Freine's sister. The mother recognizes her abandoned daugh- ter, confesses all, and Freine and her lover—knight are re- united after his marriage is annulled. Thus, Freine's loy- alty and fidelity are rewarded. The last work, Romauns 99 Partenay, contains an extraor- dinary range of incidents encompassing three generations.157 Part of the narrative deals with the broken promise that leads to perpetual separation, a twist of the separation/re- union pattern, but this is only one section of the work, which also includes a fairy mistress, enchanted mountains and castles, taboos, laments, prayers, pilgrimages to Rome, exploits of Raymond and Melusine's sons, and punishments. "Included also are descriptions of architecture and feasting and social conversation in the manner of a society novel."158 A religious intention seems to permeate the whole poem, with Raymond declaring that the dreadful occurrences are due to 106 "my cruell sin And my wicked vice" (l. A958). The work ends with a prayer for the continuation of Melusine's progeny (11. 6385-91), as well as a whole other set of prayers (ll. 6A3A— 6552), followed by the author's apology to the audience for his lack of artistic skill. Clearly, no single plot could orchestrate this sprawling composite, which reads more like a series of independent stories than a complex, intercon- nected whole. Except for these eight narratives and the twenty-six pseudo-histories, all the Middle English works conform to a very small number of structural patterns: the quest, test/re- ward, sin/punishment, separation/reunion, and exile/return. DISCUSSION OF THE ROMANCE CRITERIA Through a close examination of the five characteristic elements of romance, it becomes clear that the pseudo- histories or legendary-historical accounts do not conform to the typical patterns of the romance genre and tend to form a separate group from the other Middle English works. These narratives characteristically use miraculous events and des- criptions of marvelous creatures, seldom deal with courtly love, and touch only on those aspects of the chivalric ethic that concern Christian militancy. The typical romance hero is replaced by an essentially heroic, military figure whose exploits and conquests are enumerated and glorified. Because historical traditions are followed, typical patterns that 107 involve testing the romance hero are irrelevant. Since they have little to do with romance in these important respects, their classification as "romance" seems peculiar, arbitrary, and mistaken, especially since their French counterparts are classed as chansons 99 g9999. Clear-cut patterns are not so readily recognizable in the remaining narratives that combine motifs from romance, religious exempla, and folklore. No consistency emerges from an examination of the five criteria: existence of super— natural, marvelous, and exotic motifs; interest in courtly love; adherence to the chivalric ethic; emphasis on the indi- vidual as reflected in the romance hero; and use of the quest pattern. Some works, however, seem to comply with most of these requirements: Generides, Sir Eglamour 99 Artois, Sir Torrent 99 Portyngale, Ipomedon A, Ipomedon B, Sir Gawain and the Green Knight, Ywain and Gawain, William f Palerne, Octa- vian, Partonope 99 Blois, Sir Degrevant, and Romauns 99 999- mei- ‘ Yet there is one additional characteristic of romance, more difficult to discuss, but equally important. This might be called the "literariness" or bookishness of the genre--its self—consciousness, its adherence to decidedly artificial, literary conventions, its close attention to principles of rhetoric, and its delight in highly-formalized embellish- ments, elaboration, and pictorial and visual description: For romance was primarily a literary genre in the strict and perhaps somewhat narrow sense of the term; it was the product of trained minds not of an uncritical and ingenuous imagination.159 108 Other critics also emphasize this literary quality in at- tempting to dispel the misconception that romance as a genre is as vapid as the Harlequin series: far from being either naive, sentimental stories akin to fairy tales or rather heavy moralizing al- legories, [romance] can instead be seen as confi- dent, complex, and most likely entirely self— conscious manipulations of the elements of fiction.1 Eugene Vinaver illuminates the sophisticated and ela- borate techniques of romance, its entrelacement and its con- junction of sen and matiére: What a good romance writer does, then, according to Gottfried von Strassburg and Marie de France, is to reveal the meaning of the story (its meine), adding to it such embellishing thoughts as he con- siders appropriate: in this way he raises his work to a level wgich no straightforward narrative could ever reach.1 1 Most Middle English poets tend to reverse this process of the learned romance writers and reduce the elaborate and literary romance to its basic story, stripping it of all the learning and embellishment that characterize the romance as an art form. However, a few of the Middle English works re- tain the descriptions and elaborate details from the aristo- cratic social life and are patterned on French examples. These works include Emare, Sir Gawain and the Green Knight, Sguyr 99 Lowe Degre, Partonope 99 Blois, Ipomedon A, Sir Degrevant, the couplet version of Generides, William 99 Palerne, Sir Launfal, and Romauns 99 Partenay. NOTES 1Ojars Kratins, "The Middle English Amis and Amiloun: Chivalric Romance or Secular Hagiography?" PMLA,781 (1966), 3147. 2 . P. Ker, Epic and Romance, (1908, rpt. New York: Dover}:}9?7), pp. 3-A. 3Ke}, pp. 321-3u, 3uu—62. “R. W. Southern, The Making 99 the Middle Ages (New Haven: Yale Univ. Press, 1953), p. 2. 5 Southern, p. 222. 6Eugene Vinaver, Rise 99 Romance (Oxford: Oxford Univ. Press, 1971), p. 1. 7Charles Baldwin, Three Medieval Centuries 99 Litera- ture 99 England 1100-1A00 (Boston: Little, Brown, 1932), 8D. M. Hill, "Romance as Epic," English Studies, AA (1963), 95-107. He comments that romance is "intensely realistic and matter of fact" (p. 107). 9Nathaniel Griffin, "A Definition of Romance," PMLA, 38 (1923), 55-56. 1OHill, pp. 1ou-5. 11Morton W. Bloomfield, "Episodic Motivation and Marvels in Epic and Romance," in his Essays and Explorations (Cam- bridge: Harvard Univ. Press, 1970), p. 97. 12Bloomfield, p. 106 13Eugene Vinaver, "From Epic to Romance," Bulletin 99 the John Rylands Library, A6 (196A), A78. 1A Griffin, pp. 50-70. 15Walter Hoyt French and Charles Brockway Hale, eds., Middle English Metrical Romances (New York: Prentice-Hall, 109 1930), p. A. 16W. T. H. Jackson, "The Nature of Romance," in A9- proaches to Medieval Romance, Yale French Studies, No.51, ed. Peter Haidu (New Haven: Yale French Studies, 197A), p. 25. 17Gillian Beer, The Romance (London: Methuen, 1970), p. 10. 18M. A. Owings, The Arts in the Middle English Romances (New York: Bookman, 1952), . 138. 19 20Pamela Gradon, Form and Style in Early English Litera- ture (London: Methuen, 1971), p. 227. 21John Stevens, Medieval Romance (London: Hutchinson Univ. Library, 1973), pp. 97-109. 22Jackson, p. 15. Bloomfield, p. 101. 23Gradon, pp. 236-37. 2”W. M. Dixon, English Epic and Heroic Poetry (London: J. M. Dent & Sons, 1912), p. 98. 25Helen Cooper, "Magic That Does Not Work," Medievalia 99 Humanistica, NS 7 (1976), 131-A6. 26Henry James, Preface to The American (New York: Scrib- ners' Sons, 1907), pp. xvi-xvii. See also Beer, p. 3. 27 28Dorothy Everett, "A Characterization of the English Medieval Romances," 1929; rpt. in Essays on Middle En lishp Literature, ed. P. Kean (Oxford. Clarendon Press, 1955), 10-11. Owings, p. 16A. 29Anne Thompson Lee, "99 Bone Florence 99 Rome: A Middle English Adaptation of a French Romance," in The Learned and the Lewed, ed. Larry D. Benson (Cambridge: Harvard Univ. Press, 197A), p. 351. 3OAngels give advice, warning or directions in Joseph 99 Arimathie, Sege 99 Melayne, Sir Isumbras, Richard Coer 99 Lyon, Chevalere Assigne, Amis and Amiloun. Miracles can take the form of punishment as in Joseph 99 Arimathie and Roland and Vernagu. Miracles also confirm the truth of a doctrine or the genuineness of relics as in Joseph 99 Arimathie, Roland and Vernagu, and Siege 99 Jerusalem. Miraculous 111 assistance in battle is common in Joseph 99 Arimathie, Roland and Vernagu, Otuel and Roland, and Sir Isumbras. Miracles can also be answers to prayers as in Otuel and Roland and Sir Gowther. Other kinds of miracles appear in Sege of Melayne, Titus and Vespasian, Sir Gowther, Amis and Amiloun, Richard Coer de Lyon, and Chevalere Assigne. Conversion of heathens by signs from heaven occurs in Otuel and Roland, Amoryus and Cleopes, Siege 99 Jerusalem, and Titus and Vespasian. 31George Kane, Middle English Literature (London: Methuen, 1951), p. 80. 32A. H. Krappe, "Who Was the Green Knight?" Speculum, 13 (1938), 206; and W. A. Nitze, "Is the Green Knight Story a Vegetation Myth?" Modern Philology, 33 (1935-36), pp. 351-66. 33Cooper, p. 1AA. 3“M. E. Barnicle, ed., Seege or Batap le of Troye, EETSOS 172 (London: Oxford Univ. Press, 1927 xliv- xlv. 35See, for example, Roger Boase, The Origins and Meaning 99_Courtly Love, 1977; Alexander T. Denomy, "An Inquiry into the Origins of Courtly Love," Medieval Studies, 6 (19AA), 175-260, and The Heresy 99 Courtly Love, 1965; E. Talbot Don- aldson, "The Myth of Courtly Love," Ventures, 5 (1965), 16— 23; Joan M. Ferrante and George D. Economou, eds., 99 Pursuit of Perfection, 1975; Robert W. Hanning, "The Social Signifi- cance of Twelfth- -Century Chivalric Romance," Medievalia et Humanistica, NS 3 (1972), 3- 29; W. T. H. Jackson, The Litera- ture 99 the Middle Ages, 1960; Henry A. Kelly, Love and Mar- riage 99 999 Ag9 99 Chaucer, 1975; Helen C. R. Laurie, "'Eneas' and the Doctrine of Courtly Love," MLR, 6A (1969), 283- 9A; John Lawlor, ed., Patterns of Love and Courtesy, 1966; Moshe Lazar, Amour Courtois et 'fin' amors' dans la littérature du XIIe siécle, 196A; C. S. Lewis, Allegory of Love, 1958; G. Mathews, "Marriage and Amor Courtois in Late Fourteenth- -Century England," in Chaucer and his Contempo- raries, ed. Helaine Newstead, 1968, John C. Moore, "'Courtly Love': A Problem of Terminology, " Journal of the Histo9y of Ideas, A0 (1978), 621- 32; F. X. Newman, The Meaning of Courtly Love, 1968; Derek Pearsall, ed., The Floure and the Leafe, 1962; Rosemond Tuve, Allegorical Image9y, 1966; Carl D. Uitti, "Remarks on Old French Narrative: Courtly Love and Poetic Form," Romance Philology, 26 (1972-73), 77-93; Francis Utley, "Must We Abandon the Concept of Courtly Love?" Medie- valia 99 Humanistica, NS 3 (1972), 299-A23. 36Karl Young, "Chaucer's 'Troilus and Cressida' as Ro- mance," PMLA, 52 (1938), A6. 37Norma Lorre Goodrich, The Ways 99 Love (Boston: Beacon Press, 196A). 112 38Roger Boase, The Origins and Meani9g of Courtly Love (Manchester: Manchester Univ. Press, 1977), p. 109. 39 quoan Ferrante, "The Conflict of Lyric Conventions and Romance Form," in 99 Pursuit 99 Perfection, ed. Joan Ferrante and George D. Economou (New York: Kennikat Press, 1975), p. 173. 141A. H. Diverres, "Chivalry and fin' amor in 99 Cheval- ier au Lion," in Studies in Medieval Literature and Language, ed. W. Rothwell et al. (Manchester: Manchester Univ. Press, 1973), p. 91 ”2Robert Jordan, "Chaucerian Romance?" in Approaches 99 Medieval Romance, Yale French Studies, No. 51, ed. Peter Haidu (New Haven: Yale French Studies, 197A), pp. 226-27. Boase, pp. 129-30. “3D. H. Green, "Irony and Medieval Romance," Forum for Modern Language Studies, 6 (1970), 50. ”Rosemond Tuve, Allegorical Imagery (Princeton: Prince- ton Univ. Press, 1966), pp. 375-97. uSRaymond Cormier, One Heart One Mind (University, Miss.: Romance Monographs, 1973), p. 63. uéJohn A. Yunck, ed., Eneas (New York: Columbia Univ. Press, 197A), p. 2. A7 Marc Bloch, Feudal Society, trans. L. A. Manyon (Lon- don: Routledge and Kegan Paul, 1961), p. 106. 148Margaret Schlauch, English Medieval Romance and Its Social Foundation (Warsaw: Panstwowe Wydawnictwo Nankowe, 1956), p. 175. ”9A. C. Gibbs, ed., Middle English Romances (Evanston: Northwestern Univ. Press, 1966), pp. 15, 22. 50Velma Richmond, The Popularity of Middle English Ro- mances (Bowling Green, Ohio: Bowling Green Univ. Press, 1975), p. 119 51These works are Sir Tristrem, Cambridge Alexander- Cassamus Fragment, Morte Arthure, Octavian, Lai le Freine, Sir Launfal, Floris and Blancheflur, Ywain and Gawain, Par- tonoge of Blois, Igomedon, Romauns of Partenay, Knight of Curtesy and the Fair Lady of Faguell, and William of Palerne. 52Lillian Herlands Hornstein, "Composites of Courtly Romance," in 9 Manual 99 the Writings 99 Middle English 113 1050-1500, ed. J. Burke Severs (New Haven: Conn. Acad. of Arts and Sciences, 1967), p. 155; hereafter referred to as Manual. 53Elizabeth Williams, "Launval and Sir Landevale: A Med- ieval Translator and His Methods," Leeds Studies in English, NS 3 (1969), 96. BuEarl D. Anderson, "The Structure of Sir Launfal," Papers on Language and Literature, 13 (19777, 115-2“. 55This tendency is especially true for Ywain and Gawain, Partonope of Blois, Octavian, Generides, Ipomedon, and Wil- liam of Palerne. 56Albert B. Friedman, ed., Ywain and Gawain, EETSOS 254, (London: Oxford Univ. Press, 196M), p. xvii. 57The French original reads: "Li un recontoient no- veles, / li autre parloient d'Amors, / des angoisses et des dolors / et des granz diens qu'orent sovant / li deciple de son covant, / qui lors estoit mult dolz et buens; / mes or i a molt po des suens, / qu'a bien pris l'ont ja tuit les- sier, / s'an est Amors molt abessiee, / car cil qui soloient amer / se feisoient cortois clamer / et preu et large et en- orable / or est Amors tornee a fable / por ce que cil qui rien n'en santent / dient qu'il aiment, mes il mantent, / et cil fable et manconge an font / qui s'an vantent et droit n'i ont" (11. 12-28) in Chrétien de Troyes, Ywain 93 lg Chevalier a2_Lion, ed. Jan Nelson and Carleton W. Carroll (New York: Appleton-Century-Crofts, 1968). The English text, on the other hand, emphasizes truth: "Fast pai carped and our- taysly / of dedes of armes and of veneri / And of gude knightes pat lyfed pen, / And how men might pam kyndeli ken / By doghtines of paire gude ded / On ilka syde, wharesum pai ede; / For pai war stif in ilka stowre, / And parfore gat gai grete honowre. / pai tald of more trewth pam bitw[e]ne / pan now omang men here es sene, / For trowth and luf es al bylaft; / Men uses now anoper craft. / With worde men makes it trew and stabil, / Bot in paire faith es noght bot fabil; / With pe mowth men makes it hale, / Bot trew trowth es nane in be tale" (ll. 25-HO). 58 Friedman, p. xvii. 59Charles W. Dunn, "Romances Derived from English Leg- ends," in Manual, p. 37. 6OKane, p. 51. 61Hornstein, "Eustache-Constance-Florence-Griselda Leg- ends," in Manual, p. 79. 11A 62Helaine Newstead, "Arthurian Legends," in Manual, p. 128. 63Hornstein, p. 1H6. 6”Laura Hibbard Loomis, Medieval Romance in England (New York: Oxford Univ. Press, 192A), p. 298. 65 66Richmond, p. 75. Loomis, p. 298. 67Ronald M. Spensley, "The Courtly Lady in Partonope of Blois," Neuphilologische Mitteilungen, 7A (1973), 288-91. 68Kane, p. 33. 69 Loomis, p. H1. 7OHornstein, p. 148. 71Dieter Mehl, The Middle English Romances of the Thir- teenth and Fourteenth Centuries (London: Routledge and Kegan Paul, 1969), p. 95. 72 Mehl, p. 97. 73Mehl, pp. 97—98. 7”See Sacvan Bercovitch, "Romance and Anti-Romance in Sir Gawain and the Green Knight," Pg, an (1965), 30—37; and John Finlayson, "The Expectations of Romance in Sir Gawain and the Green Knight," Genre, 12 (1979), 1-2”. 75 Carol Falvo Heffernan, ed., Le Bone Florence of Rome (New York: Barnes & Noble, 1976), p. 22. 76 77Bruce Dickins and R. M. Wilson, eds., Early Middle English Texts (Cambridge, England: Bowes and Bowes, 1951), p. 30. 78"Thus, not only the structure and the proportions have been radically changed, but also the exposition of the themes and the meaning" (Mehl, p. 72). Richmond, p. 131. 79W. T. H. Jackson, The Literature of the Middle Ages (New York: Columbia Univ. Press, 1960), p. 15. OSidney Painter, French Chivalry (Baltimore: Johns Hop- kins Univ. Press, 19MO), p. 93. 115 81Léon Gautier, Chivalry, trans. D. C. Dunning, ed. Jacque Levron, (Paris, 1883; rpt. New York: Barnes & Noble, 1959), p. 57. 82Rosemary Woolf, "The Theme of Christ the Lover-Knight in Medieval Literature," Review 93 English Studies, NS 13 (1962), 95. 83Eugene Vinaver, "The Questing Knight," in The Binding 9: Proteus, ed. Marjorie W. McCune et al., (Lewisburg, Penn.: Bucknell Univ. Press, 1980), p. 13. 8MJ. Huizinga, The Waning of the Middle Ages (192M; rpt. New York: Doubleday Anchor, 1956), p. 57. 85Jackson, Literature gf the Middle Ages, p. 59. See also Arthur B. Ferguson, The Indian Summer 9: English Chiv- alry (Durham: Duke Univ. Press, 1960); and Larry D. Benson, Malory's Morte Darthur (Cambridge: Harvard Univ. Press, 1972)? 86Kemp Malone and Albert C. Baugh, The Middle Ages, Vol. I of A Literary History 93 England, 2nd ed., ed. Albert C. Baugh (New York: Appleton-Century-Crofts, 1967), p. 177. 87David Staines, "Havelok the Dane: A Thirteenth-Century Handbook for Princes," Speculum, 51 (1976), 602-23. 88Sheila Delany and Vahan Ishkanian, "Theocratic and Contractual Kingship in Havelok the Dane," Zeitschrift far Anglistik und Amerikanistik, 22 (197A), 290-302. 89Schlauch, p. 177. 90Mehl, p. A9. Mehl also argues that the main purpose of King Horn is to praise "a hero of royal descent whose pro- gress and whose heroic exploits are glorified" (p. 51). 91W. H. Schofield, English Literature from the Norman Conquest tg_Chaucer (1906; rpt. London: Haskell House, 1968), p. 177. 92M. Mills, ed., Libeaus Desconus (Oxford: Oxford Univ. Press, 1969), p. 62. 93George Keiser, "Narrative Structure in the Allitera- tive Morte Arthure, 26-720," Chaucer Review, 9 (197A), 130- nu. 9”John Finlayson, ed., Morte Arthure (London: Edward Arnold, 1967), p. 11. 95A. McI. Trounce, ed., Athelston, EETSOS 22“ (London: Oxford Univ. Press, 1951), p. 15. 116 96Trounce, p. 14. 97 Trounce, p. 18. 98Luann Kitchel, "A Critical Study of the Middle English Alexander Romances," Diss. Michigan State Univ., 1973, p. 24. 99Mehl, pp. 240—41. 100Mehl, p. 223. 1O1Mehl, p. 224. 102Mehl, p. 245. 103Heffernan, p. 22. 1ouKitchel, p. 22. 1058. J. Herrtage, ed., The Sege off Melayne, EETSES 35 (London: N. Trubner, 1880), p. xi. 106Ralph Hanna, ed., The Awntyrs off Arthure at the Terne Wathelyn (Manchester: Manchester Univ. Press, 1974), p. 25. 107David N. Klausner, "Exempla and the Awntyrs gf Ag- thure," Medieval Studies, 34 (1934-35), 307-25. 108 Hornstein, in Manual, p. 146. 109Loomis, p. 243. 11oBurlesque elements are deliberately used in the Middle English versions of Octavian, especially in the figure of Clement. 111Loomis, p. 243. 112Meh1, p. 124. 113Kane, p. 28. 11“Vinaver, "Questing Knight," p. 126. 115Bernard Huppé, "The Concept of the Hero in the Early the Renaissance, ed. Norman T. Burns and Christopher Reagan (Albany: State Univ. of New York Press, 1975), pp. 1—26. 116 Richmond, p. 57. 117David Herlihy, ed., The History 9: Feudalism (New York: Harper & Row, 1970), p. 281. 117 118 p. 47. C. M. Bowra, Heroic Poetry (London: Macmillan, 1952), 119Joseph Edward Nelson, "Chaucer's Knight's Tale: A Vi- sion of a Secular Ideal of Chivalry," DAI, 41 (1980), 242A (Univ. of Kansas). 120Bruce Wardropper, "The Epic Hero Superseded," in Con- cepts of the Hero in the Middle Ages and the Renaissance, ed. of New York Press, 1975), p. 199. 121Cormier, p. 65. ’ 122Matthew de Vendeme, Ars Versificatoria, in Les artes poetigues 93 XIIe fig 92 XIIIe siécle, ed. Edmond Faral, (Paris: E. Champion, 1924), pp. 109-93. 123Geoffroi de Vinsauf, Poetria Nova, in Faral, pp. 197- 262; and Documentum g3 Arte Versificandi, in Faral, pp. 265- 320. 12“Robert Stevick, ed., Five Middle English Narratives (Indianapolis: Bobbs-Merrill, 1967), p. xiv. 125Walter Curry, The Middle English Ideal 93 Personal Beauty (Baltimore: J. H. Furst, 1916), p. 3. 126Fred N. Robinson, ed., The Complete Works gf Geoffrey Chaucer, 2nd ed. (Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 1961). 127Charles Baldwin, Medieval Rhetoric and Poetics (New York: Macmillan, 1928). 128 Stevens, p. 170. 129W. T. H. Jackson, "Problems of Communication in the Romances of Chrétien de Troyes," in Medieval Literature and Folklore Studies, ed. Jerome Mandel and Bruce A. Rosenberg (New Brunswick, N. J.: Rutgers Univ. Press, 1970), p. 39. 130Joan Ferrante, Women gg Image in Medieval Literature (New York: Columbia Univ. Press, 1975): p. 2. 131 Ferrante, p. 65. 132Mehl, p. 250. 133Meh1, p. 183. 13”Mehl, p. 177. 135Loomis, p. 47. 118 136.1. P. Oakden, Alliterative Poetry $2 the Middle Ages, 2 vols. (Manchester: Manchester Univ. Press, 1930-35). 137 Finlayson, ed., Morte Arthure, p. 15. 138 Newstead, in Manual, p. 45. 139Mehl, p. 72. 1140Mehl, p. 101. 11HJ. Caro, "Horn Childe and Maiden Rimnild," Englische Studien, 12 (1899), x. 1142Richmond, p. 68. 1143Loomis, p. 68. 1”“Mehl, p. 133. 1u5Mehl, p. 133. 1L‘6Newstead, in Manual, p. 64. 1H7Rosemond Tuve, Allegorical Imagery (Princeton: Prince- ton Univ. Press, 1966), p. 345. 1118W. H. Auden, "The Quest Hero," in Tolkien and the Critics, ed. Neil D. Isaacs and Rose Zimbardo (Notre Dame: Univ. of Notre Dame Press, 1968); Eric Auerbach, "The Knight Sets Forth," in Mimesis, trans. Willard Trask (1953; New York: Doubleday, 1957); Vinaver, "Questing Knight." 1H9Robert w. Hanning, The Individual in Twelfth-Century Romance (New Haven: Yale Univ. Press, 1977), p. 3. 150 Hanning, p. 3. 151Ferrante, Women gg Image, p. 3. 152Laurel Braswell, "Sir Isumbras and the Legend of St. Eustache," Medieval Studies, 27 (1965), 128-51. 153Ralph Hanna III, "The Awntyrs off Arthure: An Inter- pretation," MLQ, 31 (1970), 275-97. 151‘1“. Madden, ed., Syr Gawayne (London, 1839), P- 328- 155Hanna, p. 296. 156R. M. Lumiansky, "Legends of Alexander the Great," in Manual, p. 112. 157 Richmond, p. 75. 119 158Hornstein, "Miscellaneous Romances," in Maqaal: p. 166. 159Vinaver, "Epic to Romance," p. 488. 160Peter Haidu, in Approaches £9 Medieval Romance, p. 3. 161 Vinaver, "Epic to Romance," p. 490. CHAPTER THREE THE NARRATIVES NAME THEMSELVES Since so few of the Middle English narratives conform to the criteria usually thought essential for romance, it is necessary to reconsider the validity of this label for the majority of these works. Before imposing more outside stan- dards or modern theoretical conceptions on narratives written from 500 to 750 years ago, we should first look closely at the works themselves to try to capture any medieval sense of narration or genre through the names the authors applied to their own works. If a consistent sense does emerge, then we should re— spect the medieval categories because they represent the au- thors' intentions in placing their works in certain identi- fiable traditions. For example, if an author repeatedly refers to his work as a "treatise" or a "life" when "romance" was an available or widely used label, it would seem clear that he did not think of his work as a romance, nor would he want his audience to associate it with other well-known ro- mances. However, several problems arise immediately. First, if several authors call their works by the same name, how can twentieth-century critics be certain that they see the same 120 121 similarities that medieval authors saw? Obviously, there is no guarantee that our analytical tools are the same, and, worse yet, there is no way of testing modern interpretations against medieval ones. Even though we can do little about this problem, we need to be aware of its existence. The second problem is that many narratives have no names or labels. There are several reasons for this. A medieval author or copyist might not have labeled the narrative simply because he considered it neither necessary nor important. In other cases, labels or titles are missing because many medie- val manuscripts survive only as fragments without the begin- ning and/or ending, the parts where the author was most likely to address his audience directly, clarify his inten- tions, or label his work. But even in those instances when the manuscript is complete with a title, incipit, and expli- cit, there is no way of knowing whether any given label is the author's own or was added to the manuscript by a scribe. If a descriptive word appears in the incipit or explicit, we can assume that it is the scribe's, but if it appears in the title or text, we can assume nothing. In fact, it is impos- sible to determine from the printed edition whether the title actually appears in the manuscript or was inserted by the modern editor. "The Geste Historiale of the Destruction of Troy" is an excellent example of a title invented by a modern editor. As our primary sources of information, the manu- scripts must be our ultimate guide, and even descriptive words inserted by a scribe or compiler are important because 122 they at least reflect a conception of the work in the mind of an individual who lived and worked within medieval tradi- tions. All the descriptive labels found in the works themselves --in the title, incipit, explicit, and the poem--are tabu- lated in Appendices A and B. Appendix A is arranged alpha- betically by work, Appendix B alphabetically by descriptive label. These labels are "book," "dite," "geste," "history," "lay," "plaint," "process," "romance," "saw," "song," "spell," "story," "tale," "treatise," "vita" (or the English "life"), and "work." The word "rhyme" is also included since the expression "in ryme" or "in my rime" seems to refer to the work itself as a metrical narrative, and "matter" appears even though it seems to refer more to the substance of the material than the work as a whole. In Appendix C, I have listed four variables of composi- tion about each poem to try to determine whether there is any consistent principle governing the use of these labels. A comparison of length, rhyme scheme, area and date of composi- tion of all the works classified by each label should show whether these works are in some way similar. I have also ex- amined the possibility that the scribe of a particular manu- script collection might have favored a certain descriptive label, a possibility that would have undercut my intention of using these terms in helping to define genre. However, no such pattern emerged from any particular collection of manu- scripts. 123 Since most works contain more than one descriptive word, these labels were probably not intended as strict categories. For example, Romauns g: Partenay refers to itself as "book," "dite," "history," "rhyme," "romance," and "work." Although this multiple labeling suggests complete chaos for generic classification, the labels should not be dismissed as totally meaningless or absolutely arbitrary until we first ascertain their general and specific meanings during the Middle Ages. The word "book" is obviously an extremely broad designa- tion that can refer either to the work itself or to a divi- sion or chapter of a complete work, as in the Destruction 9: Troy and History gf_the Holy Grail. The OED supports this vague usage: 1) "(written) narrative or account, record, list, register," 2) "written or printed treatise or series of treatises, occupying several sheets of paper or other sub- stance fastened together so as to compose a material whole," and more specifically, 3) "a literary composition such as would occupy one or more volumes, without regard to the ma- terial form or forms in which it actually exists."1 "Book" was also used in medieval times to designate a division, "a main division of the subject-matter of a prose treatise, or of a poem" (QED). The seven Middle English works that call themselves books range from 2211 lines to 27852 lines; they were com- posed from ca. 1250 (Arthour and Merlin) to ca. 1500 (Romauns g: Partenay). The rhyme scheme and area of composition also 124 appear unprofitable in the attempt to determine possible rea- sons for this common designation. The Romauns g: Partenay is the only narrative to use "dites" in its description. "Dite" is anything "indited or composed and put in writing; a composition; writing" or a "composition in poetic form or intended to be set to music; a song, a ditty" (QED). Both meanings were current in medieval times, although the first definition seems more applicable to this long-winded work, which would have been an unsingable song. "Geste" probably came into use in English as a way of talking about narratives similar to the French chansons gg ggstg, songs of heroic exploits or chivalric deeds. The QED defines "geste" as a "story or romance in verse: also simply (in later use), a story, a tale." Although the nineteen works with this label do seem to focus on the exploits of a hero, there is no consistency among them according to the four variables: they range from 541 to 12195 lines; rhyme schemes include tail-rhyme, alliteration, four—stress coup- lets, and octosyllabic verse; areas of composition range all over England, and the dates range from ca. 1280 (Havelok) to the 14003 (Partonope gf Blois). Three narratives refer to themselves as "history." This seems appropriate to Romauns gf Partenay, which spans three 125 generations of one family and ends with the author's prayer for the continuation of Melusine's line. This is not the case, however, for Generides and Sir Isumbras. Although the Douce MS. says: "Here begynneth the hystorye of the valyaunte knyght syr Isenbras," the Thornton MS. substitutes the word "romance." As a designation, history does not seem espe- cially suitable for either work unless it was intended to lend authority to a fictional story. The word "lay," like "geste," also derives from non- English sources, and the authors of the six narratives that use this word consciously place their works in the tradition of the Breton lay, popular in French aristocratic courts. According to the OED, a lay is a "short lyric or narrative poem intended to be sung. Originally applied spec. to the poems, usually dealing with matter of history or romantic ad- venture, which were sung by minstrels." Indeed, five of the six poems are quite short, ranging from 340 to 1224 lines. Three of these have the twelve-line tail-rhyme stanza; the other two, the short couplet. Sir Gawain and the Green Knight is the exception since it is longer, 2530 lines, and uses the alliterative line with the bob and wheel. Egggg and §g§l_gf Toulous are similar in date, geography, rhyme scheme, and length, but they do not appear in the same manuscript. Lai lg Freine and Sir Orfeo share the same date, geography, and rhyme scheme and both appear in the Auchinleck MS. al- though Sir Orfeo is 602 lines and Lai lg Freine only 340 126 lines (or 488 with Weber's ending to the fragment). Since the sampling is so small, no conclusions can be drawn, but it may be that the Breton lay enjoyed a popularity in England in the early 13003 in the Southeast and ca. 1400 in the North- east Midlands. "Matter" is used in ten works, usually meaning the topic or subject under discussion. The QED gives two relevant def- initions: "Material for expression; something to say; fact or thought as material for a writing or speech" and "subject of a book or discourse; a theme, topic, subject of exposition." Except for three poems under 5600 lines (Ipomedon B, Joseph 9: Arimathie, William gf Palerne), these works are long, ranging up to 27852 lines. The authors of these seven works, which are among the longest narratives studied, seem to have been especially aware of their large body of material and concerned with writing in a clear, understandable style. The QED defines "plaint" under "complaint": "plaintive poem, a plaint. (Frequent as a title, but in later times chiefly descriptive)." "Plaint" is used only in the poem Emggg, which clearly identifies itself: "Thys ys on of Bry- tayne layes / That was vsed by old dayes; / Men callys 'Playn be Garye'" (ll. 1030-32). It is not clear why this one poem of all the Middle English narratives has this title since Emare's emotive quality is similar to others'. 127 The word "process" might strike us as an odd word for a story or narrative, but in medieval times it had that meaning as well as the more usual modern one. The QED gives two meanings: "course (of a narrative, treatise, argument, etc.); drift, tenor, gist," as well as "narration, narrative; rela- tion, story, tale; a discourse or treatise; an argument or discussion." Only two of the five citations in Appendix B clearly mean the narrative as a story: "Now the proses is plainly put to an end" (the next to the last line in Egg- truction gf lggy) and the similar "And thus I make an ende of this processe" (l. 6990 of Generides). The reference in Alexander A might refer to the work itself: "To profer pis process prestly too here / I karp of a kid king Arisba was his hote" (ll. 171-71). However, the reference in Amoryus and Cleopes is clearly to the working out of the story: "as tellyth the proces of this story" (1. 1156). The word "rhyme" in the expression "in rime" occurs in six narratives that have little else in common. They range in length from 340 to 8890 lines and in date from the 12003 to late 13003. Since all the works use other descriptive words that are not always the same, the label "rhyme" is not especially significant in helping to classify these works. "Romance," the most important descriptive word, has been 3 studied by Reinald Hoops2 and more recently by Paul Strohm. In his study, Hoops demonstrates that the term could mean 128 many different things at different times: a work in French or translated from French or a work in Latin or translated from Latin (works in romance languages or the old Roman tongue), a narrative poem, a narrative not necessarily in verse, or an authoritative source.” Even in medieval times, however, romance had the more restricted meaning of a "tale in verse, embodying the adventures of some hero of chivalry, esp. of those of the great cycles of mediaeval legend, and belonging both in matter and form to the ages of knighthood" (O_Eg). Although romance did have this narrower meaning, it is difficult to agree with Paul Strohm's conclusion that "the majority of the works designated in this way recount the chivalric (martial and occasionally amatory) deeds of a sin— gle notable hero."5 In Hoops's list of the twenty-four med— ieval works that call themselves romances, the majority quite clearly do not conform to Strohm's description. In fact, only four (Bevis g: Hampton, Richard Coer gg Lyon, Sir Per— ceval g: Galles, and Partonope g: Blois) qualify. By stretching the criteria, Octavian, Sir Eglamour g2 Artois, and Sir Torrent g£ Portyngale might also qualify, and by wrenching them, possibly even Sir Gowther, Sir Isumbras, Earl gfi Toulous, and Lancelot f the Laik. But it is impos- sible to include the remaining thirteen works.6 By ignoring the fact that "romance" was applied to such diverse works as an allegory, a passion poem, a saint's life, a mirror, fabu- lous histories, moral tales, and English epics, Strohm 129 seriously misrepresents the usage of such an important term. I have found four more English works that refer to them- selves as "romance" besides those in Hoops's list (which un- til now was considered complete): Amis and Amiloun, Guy gf Warwick, Ipomedon g, and Lyfe gfi Alisaunder. Like the other labels, "romance" is not applied consistently in terms of length, rhyme scheme, area of composition, date, or manu- script collection (Appendix C). Six narratives use the descriptive word "saw," which means a "story, tale, recital" (QEQ). Except for Richard ngg_gg_L1gg, a narrative of about 7000 lines, the other works are all relatively short, less than 3000 lines. Al- though all these works were composed at an early date, the usage of "saw" was not limited to this period since notations in the 9E2 extend from 1320 to 1460. The word, however, does suggest recitation or oral delivery as it is often accompan- ied by verbs such as "say," "tell," or "sing." The six poems are not related in any other discernible ways. "Song" as a descriptive label appears in only two short works under 1500 lines, Emare and King Horn. The OED defines "song" as a "metrical composition adapted for singing, esp. one in rims and having a regular verse-form; occas., a poem." Both works are short, rhyming poems with many references to minstrels; King Horn even has a ballad-like quality,8 and the author of Emare has been described as a "minstrel belonging 130 to the Mid-Yorkshire district."9 However, the poems are different in other ways; King Horn is dated 1225 and Emare ca. 1400, and they are written in different rhyme schemes as well as in different dialects. "Spell" describes seven Middle English works ranging from 852 to 18644 lines. The word can mean a "discourse or sermon; a narrative or tale" (922). This definition, how- ever, does not seem adequate for these works since it implies either a weightiness or seriousness of intent that these works do not possess. In fact, four of the poems are popu- lar, oral tales, in which "spell" occurs in the expression "harken to my spell." From only six instances, it is diffi- cult to draw any conclusions about the precise nature of this word because the works vary considerably in length, rhyme scheme, date and area of composition, and manuscript collec- tion. Eighteen works call themselves "story," one of the most prevalent descriptive labels. Etymologically, it is related to the Old French, estoire and the Latin historia. Origi- nally, the word did contain this historic sense and meant basically a "narrative, true or presumed to be true, relating to important events and celebrated persons of a more or less remote past; a historical relation or anecdote" (QEQ). The other meaning, a "recital of events that are or are alleged to have happened; a series of events that are or might be 131 narrated," is first cited from 1375 by the OED. The more general meaning of a narrative meant for entertainment is not given until ca. 1500 in Dunbar. Seven of these works, however, are based on historical or pseudo-historical accounts. Lovelich's History gf Egg Holy Grail, Laud Troy Book, Morte Arthure, Merlin, Siege gf Thebes, Titus and Vespasian, and Lydgate's Troy Book all clearly fit the first definition, while four others, Bevis gf Hampton, Guy g: Warwick, Partonope gf Blois, and William gf Palerne are histories of people rather than events. In some of these works, the truth of the narrative is asserted, even if it is contained in near-meaningless tags such as "sope for to telle," or "to tell the sothe." However, these narratives are not alone in asserting the truth or trustworthiness of their stories; this is a commonplace of medieval narration. Besides the expected verbs with "story" like "tell" or "re- hearse," other verbs are frequently used: "testimony," "wit— ness," "record," or "show truly," which stress the authenti- city of the tale. Other narratives calling themselves "story" do not fol- low this historical pattern. In Amoryus and Clegpgs, Emare, Havelok, King g: Tars, and Sir Triamour, "story" seems more a recital of events, used almost interchangeably with "book" or "tale." The only discernible difference is that these works could be stressing their remoteness from the present through the label "story." 132 "Tale" is another common word, describing twenty-nine works. In general, it can mean that "which one tells, the relation of a series of events; a narrative, statement, in- formation" or a "story or narrative, true or fictitious, drawn up so as to interest or amuse, or to preserve the his- tory of a fact or incident; a literary composition cast in narrative form" (QED). Since its meaning is broad enough from its first usages to include both interesting and amusing stories as well as more serious ones whose intentions are to preserve historical facts, it is impossible to separate the two overlapping categories in these Middle English works. Two additional poems use "tale" to refer to a particular sec- tion of the overall narrative. In Otuel and Roland, the line "Here bygynneyth a Rewful tale" seems to refer to the follow- ing story, not to the complete work. Similarly, in Destruc- tggg_g£_lggy, "tale" seems to refer to specific sections of the whole since the author tends to use the word only at the beginning or ending of the different chapters. Besides these two, six narratives use "in this talking" or "in my talking" in much the same way that other works use the other descrip- tive labels. Since this expression always appears in texts with other labels, it alone never determines a generic sense. The word "treatise" is found in only the incipit and explicit of two works, Knight g£ Curtesy and the Fair Lady gf Faguell and Libeaus Desconus, and not in the body of either one. The word did not always have its modern weighty 133 connotations. Originally "treatise" was "more widely used for a literary work in general"; it could be either a "story, tale, or narrative" or a "descriptive treatment, description, account" (QEQ). Clearly, no conclusion can be drawn from these two citations. The Latin "vita" appears in the explicit of both Amis and Amiloun and Sir Gowther and in the incipit of Havelok and Richard Coer gg Lyon. The English equivalent, "life," does occur in the incipit of Joseph gf Arimathie as well as in two textual references: "Here endys pe lyfe" (l. 2205 of Libeaus Desconus) and "lythe and listenyth the lif of a lord riche" (l. 1 of Weddynge g: Sir Gawen and Dame Ragnell). Although in medieval times the word usually referred to a biography or a written account of a person's life, this definition does not seem to apply to Weddynge gf Sir Gawen and Dame Ragnell, in which "lif" has its more general meaning rather than any specific generic sense. Only three poems refer to themselves as "work," which meant a literary composition as well as something accom- plished or finished. In Destruction gf Troy, the author re- fers to finishing his work, so perhaps he meant only his task or labor. The Troy Book, however, clearly uses the literary meaning. The author of William gf Palerne repeatedly uses the 134 word "lesson," which might be construed as a descriptive label. However, since the narrative calls itself a "tale" and a "story," it seems as though the author intended "1e3- son" to stress the connotations of instruction and education inherent in the story, and so I have not included it in my discussion of possible generic labels. Even though some of these labels, especially "lay" and "history," seem more specific or restricted than others, none of them seems to have a strict generic meaning. No clear or consistent usage of the labels emerges with respect to the five possible variables although sometimes general patterns appear valid. For example, "lay," "saw," and "song" usually apply to short works while other labels occur without regard to length. Date, geographic area of composition, and partic- ular manuscript collection have no apparent bearing on any of these labels. Furthermore, a work's use of multiple labels indicates that there was no strict generic sense or any clear-cut categories of medieval classification. The most striking fact that emerges from this survey of descriptive labels is the randomness and lack of consistency in their use. This conclusion is confirmed by variant readings in the manuscripts. Table 7 lists a sampling of variant readings, in which the descriptive words are freely substituted for one another in different manuscripts of the same poem with no apparent change in meaning. 135 Table 7 SUBSTITUTION OF DESCRIPTIVE LABELS Geste : Romance 1. in nggg g: Hampton: "Now begynnyth a yeste ageyn" l. 3963, Camb Univ Ff.2.38 MS. "Now begynnyth the romauns ffyne" l. 3963, Chetham 8009 MS. 2. in Octavian (Northern): "In yeste as we rede" l. 1695. Camb Univ Ff.2.38 MS. "In romance as we rede" l. 1695, Thornton MS. 3. in Sir Eglamour gfi Artois: "In Rome bys geste cronyculd ys" l. 1339, Camb Univ Ff.2.38 MS. "In Rome bys romance crouned is" l. 1333, Thornton MS. Geste : Spell in Seege g: Troye: "Her ys be haluyndell of our geste" l. 980, Arundel MS. "Herkene now to my spelle" l. 980, Thornton MS. Geste : Story in King gf Tars: 1. "In gest as it is founde" l. 549, Auchinleck MS. 2. "In gest as y 3ou say" 1. 774, Bodl 3938 MS. Romance = Book in Bevis g: Hampton: "be romounce telleb" l. 1532, Auchinleck MS. "be bok telleb" l. 1532, Douce frag., Royal Library of Naples MS. 136 Table 7 (cont'd.) Romance : History in Sir Isumbras: "Here begynns the Romance off Syr Isambrace" incipit, Thornton MS. "Here begynneth the hystorye of the valyante knyght syr Isenbras" incipit, Douce 261 MS. Romance : Spell in Bevis gf Hampton: "In eni lede or in romans" l. 2130, Chetham 8009 MS. "In eni lede or eni spelle" l. 2130, Auchinleck MS. Romance : Story in Bevis gf Hamgton: "Ryght as the romaynus tellis" l. 1142, printed copy in Bodleian Library "As the story of Beves tellis" l. 1142, Camb Univ Ff.2.38 MS. Rhyme : Gest in Amis and Amiloun: "In ryme y wol rekene ry t" l. 38, Egerton 2862 MS. "In gest y wol yow telle al" 1. 38, Hale 2386 MS. Rhyme : Romance in Bevis g: Hampton: "And in me rime ri t wel ilaid" l. 1216, Auchinleck MS. "And ir my romauns ri3t wel ilaid" l. 1216, Royal Library of Naples MS. "And in my romaunce ri3t wel ilaid" l. 1216, Douce frag., Camb Univ Ff.2.38 MS. Rhyme : Story in King gfi Tars: "In rime al so we rede" l. 309, Auchinleck MS. "In stori al so we rede" l. 309, Bodl 3938 MS. 137 Table 7 (cont'd.) K. Sawe : Tale in King g£_Tars: "As y finde in mi sawe" ll. 411, 1119, Auchinleck MS. "As y finde in mi tale" 11. 411, 1119, Bodl 3938 MS. NOTES 1"Book," in The Compact Edition gf the Oxford English Dictionary, 1971. Hereafter, this work is cited as OED. 2Reinald Hoops, "Der Begriff 'Romance' in der Mittel- englischen Literatur," Anglistische Forschunggn, 68 (1929), 1-98. 3Paul Strohm, "The Origin and Meaning of Middle English Romance," Genre, 10 (1977), 1—28. “Hoops, pp. 34-36. 5Strohm, p. 13. See also John Finlayson, "Definitions of Middle English Romance," Chaucer Review, 15 (1980), 43: "However, a closer look at Hoops's list reveals that a major- ity of them conform to a basic paradigm, namely, that they are concerned with an individual knight who rides out to seek or achieve an adventure (feat of arms), and some of these also show a concern for courtoisie and have an amatory ele- ment." These works include Romance gf the Rose, Meditations gg the Life and Passion gf Christ, SE. Gregory, Miror gf Lewd Mgg, Barbour's Bruce and Alexander, Minot's poems, kg Bone Florence g3 Rome, Arthour and Merlin, Laud Troy Book, Sowdon of Babylon, Romauns gf Partenay, and Duke Roland and Sir Otuel g: Spain. 7Out of this new total of twenty-eight "romances," twenty are metrical and fall within the scope of this disser- tation. By separating Octavian into Northern and Southern versions, I thus have twenty-one poems calling themselves romance. 8Laura Hibbard Loomis, Medieval Romance lg England, 2nd ed. (New York: Burt Franklin, 1954), p. 86. 9 Loomis, p. 25. 138 CHAPTER FOUR CALLING THE WORKS BY THEIR RIGHT NAMES Clearly, medieval ideas of genre were vague and cer- tainly less rigid than modern theoretical notions. There was no sharp distinction between fact and fiction, history and legend, chronicle and romance, but a medieval author could nonetheless align his work with a particular tradition if it suited his purposes. Medieval genres obviously over- lapped and shared many of the same conventions, rhetorical principles, stylistic features, and loosely conceived ele- ments of composition: elaboration, embellishment, digression, dialogue, character portraiture, repetition, claims of au- thenticity, and a fascination with the exotic or mysterious. A medieval author could dip into a large pool of motifs from biblical, classical, Arabic, Byzantine, and Celtic stories for materials for any kind of narrative, popular or schol- arly. Even though it might be difficult to differentiate a particular genre clearly from the more-or-less continuum of medieval genres, there are certainly distinctions among his- tory, epic, romance, saints' legends, folklore, and ballads. Works from these different categories have different inten- tions, from recording facts for posterity to entertaining 139 140 with a good story. In addition, narrative emphasis, tone, and structure vary from genre to genre. It is these differences that provide a means of distin- guishing among the so-called Middle English romances. While not falling into sharply defined categories, these works ex- hibit tendencies and characteristics that range from chron- icle and history to folklore and balladry. A classification of these Middle English narratives along this generic contin- uum is essential in providing a clearer understanding of each work's meaning and intentions, in clarifying the connections among these works, and in eliminating the unfulfilled expec- tations generated by the catchall term "romance." I have separated all the Middle English metrical nar- ratives into five basic categories: 1) Popularized Pseudo- histories, 2) Didactic and Pietistic Tales, 3) Romances, 4) Chivalric Adventure Stories, and 5) Minstrel Tales. Table 8 lists the works according to these categories. POPULARIZED PSEUDO-HISTORIES This first group of twenty-seven pseudo-historical writings or legends separate themselves from the remaining Middle English narratives. Most critics have commented on the differences between these works and the other so—called romances, but C. David Benson argues convincingly for a new perspective on some of them: The Middle English historians of Troy are not failed romance writers or simply mechanical 141 Table 8 RECLASSIFICATION OF MIDDLE ENGLISH NARRATIVES I. POPULARIZED PSEUDO-HISTORIES A. Legendary Histories: 1. Arthur 2. Destruction of Troy 3. History of the Holy Grail 4. Merlin B. Moralistic Histories: 1. Alexander B 2. Morte Arthur 3. Siege of Thebes 4. Troy Book C. Romantic or Epic Histories: . Alexander A . Alexander C . Arthour and Merlin . Laud Troy Book . Lyfe of Alisaunder 6. Morte Arthure 7. Seege of Troye 1 2 3 u 5 D. Militant Christian and Propagandistic Histories: Ashmole Sir Firumbras Duke Roland and Sir Otuel of Spain Fillingham Firumbras Joseph of Arimathie Otuel a Knight Otuel and Roland Roland and Vernagu Sege of Melayne Siege of Jerusalem 10. Song of Roland 11. Sowdon of Babylon 12. Titus and Vespasian \KDCXDNIONU'IJT.’(Js.J1\)--l1 II. DIDACTIC AND PIETISTIC TALES A. Constance Legends: 1. Emare 2. Octavian 3. Sir Eglamour of Artois 4. Sir Torrent of Portyngale 5. Sir Triamour O\U1-C-"LJO|\)—\ C) U thN—i EWN-J III. xloxmzuum—a H < CDKIOKJT-P—‘LJON—P < 3> UUN—P 142 Table 8 (cont'd.) Religious exempla: Amoryus and Cleopes Bone Florence of Rome Chevalere Assigne King of Tars Roberd of Cisyle Sir Gowther Didactic Tales: Amis and Amiloun Athelston Awntyrs off Arthur A Sir Amadace Sir Isumbras Chivalric and Religious Composites: Bevis of Hampton Guy of Warwick Richard Coer de Lyon Romauns of Partenay ROMANCES Generides Ipomedon A Partonope of Blois Sir Degrevant Sir Gawain and the Green Knight Squyr of Lowe Degre William of Palerne CHIVALRIC ADVENTURE STORIES Awntyrs off Arthur B Guy and Colbrond Horn Child Jeaste of Syr Gawayne Libeaus Desconus Reinbrun, Son of Gij Sir Perceval of Galles Ywain and Gawain MINSTREL TALES Folk Tales: Avowynge of King Arthur Floris and Blancheflur Knight of Curtesy and the Fair Lady of Faguell on NOW-12' :WN-A O U uum—a UT-ELMN-J 143 Table 8 (cont'd.) Sir Cleges Sir Degare Turke and Gowin Weddynge of Sir Gawen and Dame Ragnell Political Moral Tales: Gamelyn Havelok King Horn Sir Orfeo Breton Lays: Earl of Toulous Lai le Freine Sir Launfal Chivalric Ballads: Carle off Carlile Eger and Grime Grene Knight Sir Tristrem Syre Gawene and the Carle of Carelyle 144 translators of Guido; instead they are skilled and intelligent craftsmen whose conscientious efforts to bring ancient history to an unlearned audience have been inadeguately understood and insuffi- c1ently valued. Like the Troy legends, the other Middle English pseudo- histories, which are translations or adaptations of legendary material or historical events, are intended for a medieval audience that would otherwise not have access to such infor- mation. The Alexander stories in particular are deliberate attempts to present a picture of a great historical figure in a context palatable and understandable to medieval minds. For example, Alexander is "contemporized" and characterized "within the conventional framework of the idealized medieval hero."2 These popular pseudo-histories fall into four sub- groups: (A) Legendary Histories, presented without any clear narrative or authorial point of View; (B) Moralistic His- tories, offering history as an exemplum; (C) Romantic or Epic Histories, molding history into romance or heroic tradition, and (D) Militant Christian and Propagandistic History, pre- sented as chansons gg geste with a militant religious spirit infusing the historical events. A. Legendary Histories: Only four works fall into this first grouping of legend without an imposed authorial point of View. These are all translations of French or Latin sources with no narrative bias and no specific intention other than transmission of 145 knowledge. Aggggr, a 642-line poem, is a summary account of Arthur from his birth to death, including his founding of the Round Table, his conquest of Rome, and his treacherous murder by Modred. The author packed this short poem with a great deal of information. As a result, this condensed account of Arthur's life, composed without embellishment or elaboration, is little more than a bare outline, rather than a thought- fully crafted narrative. Perhaps the most significant fact about this minor poem is its interpolation within a Latin chronicle in the Marquis of Bath's MS.3 This is a clear in- dication that medieval manuscript compilers understood its essentially historical nature. The long work, Destruction gf Troy, an adaptation of Guido de Colonna's Historia Trojana, is the best example of a work concerned with "historical truth." The author's omis- sions and changes point to an "extraordinary care" and "shrewd intelligence" in making his source clearer and more consistent.“ The poet's general practice is to separtate his— torical fact from decoration. Guido's moral and rhetorical additions to the story are eliminated almost at will, but any nuggets of genuine his- torical information contained in them, however small, are preserved.5 The poet strives to make the narrative more immediate and more interesting to his readers, often by changing indirect discourse to dialogue and by inserting his own artistic descriptions--all without tampering with the authenticity of his material or superimposing any moral or didactic interpre- tations: 146 Perhaps the greatest achievement of the Destruc- tion is its ability to vivify the often dull facts of Guido's eyewitness style. By giving the ancient story of Troy a powerful sense of immediacy, the author of the Destruction is true to his double of- fice and becomes both poet and historian. Nowhere is this clearer than in his concrete visual des- criptions of storm and battle. The last two narratives are Lovelich's long, often te- dious works, the History g: the Holy Grail, a close transla- tion of the French Estoire del Saint Graal, and his Merlin, a translation of the French Vulgate Merlin. Both works re- peatedly refer to their sources and seem little more than direct translations from French to English. These four works form a natural group because they make no attempt to adapt or modify their sources for a specifi- cally didactic end or for a particular literary rendering. They are simply accounts of legendary material based on his- torical or pseudo-historical sources, intended to be clear- cut records and not romances or heroic epics. B. Moralistic Histories: These histories are either original didactic accounts (such as Alexander B) or deliberate modifications of their sources with the specific purpose of showing certain pat- terns of behavior for the reader's inspection and possible edification. Alexander B recalls the ancient debate tradi- tion in its series of five letters between Alexander and Dindimus, who debate the Brahman customs and their value in God's eyes. Yet the work as a whole seems less a debate than a vehicle of "moral and instructive material concerning the 147 two ways of life."7 Lydgate's two works, Siege gf Thebes and Troy Book, are decidedly didactic in their deliberate, conscious presenta- tion of historical information: History is of use in providing examples of moral and political action, and Lydgate here pays enough respect to thg narrative to make it a true 'Mirror for Princes.’ Lydgate himself explicitly states this intention in The Siege g: Thebes: "And who so list a merour forto make / Of kyngly fredam lat hym ensample take / Of Andrastus the manly kyng famous" (ll. 2723-25). He freely abridges his sources and adds his own commentary, which, for the most part, consists 9 of "moralisations of different kinds." Robert Ayers des- cribes Lydgate's self-imposed role as moral historian: It was, then, in performance of his moral office and as a chronicler of history and as a social critic--not as a purveyor of romantic or epic fic— tion--that Lydgate undertook the Siege g: Thebes, and it was the use of the moral implications of the incidents for hortatory purposes that deter- 10 mined the organization and structure of the poem. Not surprisingly, Lydgate's high moral purpose also in- forms his treatment of the Troy legend. Walter Schirmer sees the Trgy Book as an "historical work containing all the moral and political lessons which history was expected to teach"11 and not as "a great romance, but an interpretation of life."12 This non-romance, non-epic quality of the work is also noted by Derek Pearsall: The Trgy Book is a homily first, an encyclopaedia second, and an epic nowhere. In it, Lydgate draws upon every resource of medieval rhetoric to amplify his treatment of the story, to broaden its scope and to drive home its moral lessons.1 ma John Studer's article "History as Moral Instruction: John Lydgate's Record of Troie Toun"124 and Robert Ayer's "Medieval History, Moral Purpose, and the Structure of Lydgate's Siege 15 are indicative of the overwhelming critical con- gf Thebes" sensus about Lydgate as a moral historian. Similarly, the stanzaic Morte Arthur emphasizes the moral implications of the tragic outcome of Lancelot's in- volvement with Guinevere. Although some critics downplay the moral presentation and emphasize the tragic qualities of the story,16 the design of the narrative obviously suggests a clear moral intention. The narrative strongly focuses on Lancelot, his relationships with the Maid of Astolat and Guinevere, and his feelings for Agravaine, Gawain, and Ar- thur. Instead of ending with the tragic death of Arthur, the poem continues on to the moving meeting between Guinevere, who has taken religious vows, and Lancelot, who later becomes a hermit-priest and remains at the site of Arthur's grave until his own death seven years later. The poem ends after visions revealing Lancelot's salvation and Guinevere's burial with Arthur at Glastonbury Abbey. This kind of religious ending softens the tragic fall of the Round Table by placing the work in a moral context where actions are judged by a religious, not a chivalric, code. Velma Richmond suggests an interpretation that treats the work as a clash between temporal and eternal claims, a clash resolved only through a knowledge of and value in penitence and dedication to God.17 149 C. Romantic or Epic Histories: The authors of these seven works unabashedly embellish their primarily historical accounts with motifs and conven- tions from the epic and romance traditions. The two Alexan- der narratives are clearly different from their sources in portraying Alexander: "But while the courtly element is well- nigh non-existent in the narrative, Alexander is transformed into a medieval knight and feudal lord embodying the chival- "18 ric virtues. In Alexander 9, the poet acts as historian "19 and "biographer of the epic Alexander, structuring his narrative to enhance the epic dimension of this warrior king.20 Even the ten-line prologue to Alexander A points to the Germanic heroic code, and the battle descriptions scat- tered throughout have an epic flavor. Lyfe gf Alisaunder, while still basically a heroic nar- rative in the tradition of the Old French chansons gg geste, contains some romantic elements. G. V. Smithers points out how the arts of Neptanabus, the mirabilia, Candace's amorous passion for Alexander and his acquiescence, the author's own vignettes of courtly life, and the sentiments sometimes ex- pressed in the lyrical headpieces are "typically romantic, since they minister to the human faculty for wonder or the interest in romantic love."21 Smithers further describes at length the elements of epic style found in the poem and dem- onstrates that the poet's alterations of his sources usually consist of embellishments and stylistic devices borrowed from epic and romance traditions.22 Dieter Mehl also notes the 150 influence of the epic tradition on the historical material of this poem: The battle-scenes, in particular, with their al- most identical sequence of events, the regular al- ternation of individual combats and mass slaughter, the rhetorical catalogues and the almost ritual listing of proper names, are clearly in the tradi- tion of the Latin and Old French epic.23 The author of Lyfe gf Alisaunder has been identified as the author of Arthour and Merlin although the claims for com- mon authorship are neither clear nor convincing.2u Neverthe- less, Arthour and Merlin does display many of the same heroic and epic embellishments as Lyfe gf Alisaunder, especially in the battle and feasting scenes: It is precisely the use of formulas and the fre- quent repetition of identical scenes which indicate that the author made an attempt, though not very imaginative, to write in the traditional epic style which would be unthinkable without Old French models.25 Likewise, the Seege gf Troye exhibits epic tendencies in the numerous scenes of bloody battles, the infancy of the heroes, the joys of feasting and music, the heroic laments, 26 and the sorrow and grief expressed at the death of a hero. The alliterative Morte Arthure has also been categorized 27 as an epic as well as a medieval tragedy. Both interpreta- tions accurately describe the narrative structure and design, which has little to do with romance tradition besides its characters, usually thought to be at the heart of romance: The framework, the rise and sudden fall of a noble king, indeed agrees with the concept of the medie- val tragedy of fortune, but the poem is undeniably epic in its breadth and heroic scale. Arthur is magnified so that he dominates the action, and the 151 story is presented with a constant awareness of its grandeur in a succession of brilliantly dramatic scenes.2 William Matthews describes how the poem deviates from conven- 29 tional romance, and John Finlayson, differentiating between romance and epic, places the poem in the historical tradition along with the heroic chansons gg geste: Morte Arthure, then, is deliberately heroic in its themes, sentiments, and structure, and cannot be judged according to the criteria used for evalua- ting and enjoying such poems as Sir Gawain and the Green Knight and Ywain and Gawaififgo Certainly the poem's sc0pe and dramatic power justify calling it a masterpiece of medieval poetry in the heroic tradition. The Laud Troy Book, the last work of this group, is a curiosity. Even though it is based on Guido's Historia like Destruction g: Troy, its intention is markedly different. The author's "special contribution to the medieval history is to retell it using the forms and techniques of a popular "31 genre, the Middle English romance. Clearly the poet's omissions and expansions of his source are a conscious at- tempt to romanticize his historical materials and create a 32 "Hector-romance." Although the author tried to pass his poem off as a romance--it is, in fact, the only account of Troy or Thebes to call itself by this name--the work remains a history overlaid with techniques and conventions of roe mance . 152 D. Militant Christian and Propagandistic Histories: Of the twelve works in this group, eight are transla- tions of French chansons gg_g£g£g, Sowdon g: Babylon and both versions of Sir Firumbras derive from the Old French chanson gg_geste Fierabras. Otuel g Knight, Otuel and Roland, Roland and Vernagu, Duke Roland and Sir Otuel g: Spain, and Sege gf Melayne are all based on or related to the French Chanson gg Otinel or the French prose Estoire 33 gg Charlemagne. Since their literary antecedents are quite clear, it is unnecessary and even misleading to clas- sify these English versions as romances. They were not in- tended to be romances, nor do they resemble romances, except in those characteristics that both epic and romance share-— chivalric background, focus on prowess, and a martial hero. The exception to this in the Firumbras narratives is the major role of Floripas, which may have been affected by the romance genre's emphasis on women. Although developed beyond the usual minor role of women in epic, she has little in common with the swooning, introspective maiden of romance, who observes the conventions of courtly love.3u The fragmentary Sggg g: Roland, which is missing both its beginning and conclusion, is tentatively included in this group of militant Christian poems because its author seems less concerned with the heroic, tragic consequences of Roland's demesure than with a hearty description of the battle scenes. The fragment emphasizes the battle between the Christian and Saracen forces as well as the temporary 153 triumph of the religiously inspired troops against the infi- dels. Another fragment, Joseph gi Arimathie condenses material from Estoire del Saint Graal: The poet has retold the story in his own terms and his own idiom, reducing the scale to the dimensions of the adventures at Sarras. The simplified treat- ment of the narrative consistently sustains the at- mosphere of pious legend; even the generally ad- mired battle scenes (vss. 489-614) are handled so that they are subordinated to the major themes of miracle and conversion.35 This poem clearly exemplifies Christian militancy in the battles and the propagandistic spirit in the conversions and miracles performed to help Joseph in his campaign against the non-believers. The Siege gf Jerusalem and Titus and Vespasian are ver- sions of the same story involving a thoroughly medieval, ana- chronistic retelling of the life of Christ and the cure of Vespasian by Veronica's veil. In the alliterative version, the siege of Jerusalem, which takes up most of the poem, is carried out as a typically medieval siege with all the medie- val apparatus of battle, whereas the couplet version contains more religious and hagiographic material. As George Kane comments, Titus and Vespasian are "crusading Christian knights, brave and capable general officers speaking a "36 Clearly, biblical history stilted and precious language. is presented as medieval legend, combining Christian mili- tancy in battle descriptions with conversions. "These relig- ious romances place in an atmosphere of chivalry the life, passion, and miracles of Christ, woven into stories of the 154 cure of Vespasian and the destruction of Jerusalem."37 These two works are the most overtly religious of all the poems in this group. All twelve narratives demonstrate the superiority of Christianity over other faiths with the triumphant Christian hero even converting the non—believers in several of the works. The crusading militancy, the propagandistic element of the eternal battle for Christian beliefs, and the focus on the righteous slaughter of the infidels all point to a tradition far different from romance with its self-ennobling ideals. The twenty-seven narratives categorized as Popularized Pseudo-History have little connection with the romance tra- dition in either their literary lineage or their basic in- tentions. Even when romantic embellishments are added in popularizing these stories, they remain legends or histories with an intention and purpose alien to the romance with its conventions such as the testing of a knightly hero, the quest, the focus on the individual and his personal rela- tionships, and the elaborate descriptions of courtly life. These works are not romance, but popular history. DIDACTIC AND PIETISTIC TALES This second major classification includes twenty Middle English works that are closely related by their moralistic 155 concerns and didactic elements. These narratives have often been compared to hagiography, and many scholars have even re- classified some of them to underscore their clear similarity to saints' lives. Hanspeter Schelp labels thirteen Middle English works as "Exemplary Romances";38 Dieter Mehl dis- 39 cusses nine poems as "Homiletic Romances"; and Diana Childress identifies thirteen narratives as "Secular Leg- "40 end. Only five works, however, are common to all the studies, including mine: Bone Florence of Rome, Emare, Roberd g: Cisyle, Sir Gowther, and Sir Isumbras. Despite the discrepancies among the works listed in these critical studies, scholars are at least willing to reconsider the problem of generic classification and try to establish more accurate labels for some of the works. Diana Childress sums up the general feeling that many of these Middle English nar- ratives need redefinition: For by lumping romances and secular legends to- gether we can only get a distorted View of what romance is--the role of the supernatural, for ex- ample, takes a different dimension--and we set up a standard against which the didactic works invari- ably seem "inferior.“-11 Part of the confusion stems from the many shared ele- ments: a single protagonist as hero, an idealized experience, supernatural or mysterious motifs, a common verse form (octo- syllabic couplets), the same audience, and similar narrative techniques.”2 However, in intention, emphasis, tone, and sometimes structure, the romance is distinct from hagiography as well as these didactic and pietistic tales. As Margaret Hurley says, "Romances have nothing to say about saving 156 souls, serving God, or taking up against sin. They promise only present delight and lessons of one's social relation- 43 ships in ggig world." Jeanne Martin further pinpoints the difference in the "temporal and eternal realms of existence" and the didactic narrative's insistence on presenting a pro- tagonist who exemplifies man's relationship to Godf”l These twenty narratives are certainly closer to hagiog- raphy than romance, especially in their overt moral and re- ligious message that determines the structure and presenta- tion of the story materials. Since the works do range from religious exempla to chivalric and religious composites, which transform romance material into didactic exemplary tales, they are further divided into four subgroups that highlight specific similarities among the works. A. Constance Legends: Five works, variations of the Constance story, share the basic separation and reunion structural pattern and focus specifically on a woman as the main character. The striking similarity in all five narratives is the exile of an innocent woman with her child or twins, which sets in motion the re- mainder of the narrative. The poems then work through the rescue of the mother and children, the upbringing of the sons, the father's adventures leading to the family's re- union, the sons' prowess, the father-son combat (in Sig Eglamour g: Artois, Sir Torrent g£_Portyngale, and Sir Tri- amour), the reunion of the families, and the punishment of 157 the betrayers (except in Emare where the Emperor repents and is forgiven). The chronologico-literary relationships among these romances are difficult to reconstruct. In addition to other parallels with Eglamour, both Torrent and Octavian use the griffin as the robber beast and refer to their source as a "Buke of Rome" (but one need not seek such a source for poems com— posed of such familiar details). Eglamour and Og- tavian are further alike in combining the themes of the persecuted lady with the heroic exploits of her lover. Eglamour and Isumbras follow the same se- quence of the stolen child and treasure. Eglamour and Emare show many verbal similarities. There is no unanimity of opinion about how or which specific influence of one romance operated upon another. Despite the individual variations and embellishments, these five narratives intertwine the same narrative threads that tie together many adventures and chivalric exploits. They differ from many other courtly, chivalric tales essen— tially in their lack of focus on a single knightly hero who undergoes trials and testing. Instead, these works contain a multiple point of view, linking the story of a mother's exile and suffering with her sons' childhood and their ini- tiation into the knightly ranks to that of the father's ad- ventures before the family is reunited and the wrongdoer punished. The same motifs and story development inform these works which share a common didactic tone. B. Religious Exempla: These six narratives stress the religious implications of their stories and include miracles, a guardian angel, re- ligious conversions, pietistic expressions, a nun with heal- ing power, priests, and hermits. Amoryus and Cleopes ends 158 with the miraculous resurrection of the two lovers who be- come Christians, followed by the conversion of the Persians after the hermit destroys the image of Venus and the hea- thens' magic sphere. The last book of this narrative is completely religious in emphasizing the power of the true faith. The English version of Bone Florence gf Rome transforms its highly romantic, supernatural source into a "narrative as sober and unromantically moral as possible."u6 The Middle English redactor of Florence was of a strongly religious cast of mind and he tells his story not for the sake of diversion, but ”7 for the picture it gives of Christian fortitude. Although Florence resembles some of the other long-suffering protagonists, her role is overtly religious: she becomes a nun famous for her healing powers. The poem's resemblance to a saint's legend is inescapable: The hagiographic tone, the delineation of the Seven Sins on the walls of the palace, the pa- tient endurance of the heroine and her limitless kindliness and good nature, the pointed moraliz- ing of the concluding lines blur the distinction between Saint's Life and Romance. Chevalere Assigne, a religious retelling of the begin- rling of the Knight of the Swan story, transforms this fairy 1:211e into a pious story of God's intervention to save the :izaruocent and punish the sinful. The tale begins and ends on 51 Iseligious note. The first four lines introduce the pious s;t:<>ry by stating the necessity of God's intervention at times: All-weldynge God whenne it is His wylle, Wele He wereth His werke with His owne honde; For ofte harmes were hente bat helpe we ne my3te, Nere be hyn3e3 of Hym bat lengeth in heufene. 159 The poem ends with the line: "And bus be botenynge of God brow3te hem to honde." These are not simply conventional frames around a secular story, but the comments apprOpriate to a story that includes miraculous intervention: God sends a hind to suckle the children, an angel to instruct the her- mit, a guardian angel to help Enyas in battle, and an adder and fire to blind Enyas's opponent. The Klgg gf ngg, while resembling some of the other works centering on a heroine's faith and steadfastness, is quite clearly a religious work dealing with the miraculous powers of baptism, the conversion of a Sultan king, and even the articles of faith. The poet seems to subsume all the various motifs for his particularly religious purpose so that "details from history, folklore, and romance, transformed with pious consistency, intensify the religious feeling.“49 Roberd gf Cisyle is equally religious and may even be considered "an ecclesiastical legend,"50 demonstrating the poet's clear and extensive knowledge of the church calendar ,and its liturgy: He stresses churchly seasons and Scriptural leg— ends. It is on St. John's Night, Midsummer Eve, that the Angel comes; on Holy Thursday the Angel's splendid gifts are given in Rome. From some ver- sion of the Book of Judith, the poet paraphrases the story of "Sire Olyferne"; again he tells of that "Nabgodonosare" on whose shame Roberd medi- tates, and carefully quotes and translates the Latin text of the Deposuit. E3€3éginning in the Vernon MS with the line "Her is of Kyng P?c3»t>ert of Cicyle, Hou pride dude him begyle," this poem is a SFD-‘iir‘itual journey from pride through grief and repentance to 160 understanding and salvation. This work is the most success- ful and poignant of all the religious works studied. Sir Gowther recounts the same progression from sinful- ness to salvation as Roberd g: Cisyle, but without its single-mindedness and directness. Sir Gowther combines many motifs including the barren marriage, the supernatural (dev- ilish) birth, the fool, the three days' tournaments, and the restoring of speech to a dumb princess-~elements that have nothing to do with the basic theme of forgiveness. Despite all these, the author clearly intended his work as a relig- ious story about Gowther, a revered saint who works miracles. One manuscript even ends with "Explicit vita sancti." The Middle English poet also states that after Gowther's death and burial at an abbey, where he was a "varre corsent parfytt" and where his shrine became a place of healing miracles, he was called Seynt Gotlake. This shows an evident confusion of the hero's name with that of St. Guthlac, foun- der of Croyland Abbey.52 All six narratives contain some of the same motifs and legendary material as other works, yet these consistently point to a religious significance either in conversions (Amoryus and Cleopes and King g: Tars), in spiritual regen- eeration and repentance (Roberd g3 Cisyle, Sir Gowther, and .Ehone Florence g3 Rome), or in heavenly aid to the innocent ('CHnevalere Assigne and Bone Florence _§ Rome). (3.. Didactic Tales: The authors of these five works deliberately shape their niéa-tlendal towards a didactic or moral purpose. All share a 161 lack of interest in courtly love and replace it with a strong moral structuring principle. Sir Isumbras, Sir Amadace, and Amis and Amiloun follow the test/reward pattern, and Athel- ston, sin/punishment. Awntyrs off Arthur A, which revolves around the meeting of Guinevere and her ghostly mother, is based on such religious sources as the Trental gf SE. Gregory and purgatorial material gleaned from the legends concerning St. Patrick53 and blends religious and didactic messages into 54 an exemplum on luxuria and avaritia. All five narratives resemble pietistic tales and even saints' legends, yet they are filled with chivalric embellishment and stress didactic rather than explictly religious elements. For example, Sir Isumbras shares many plot similarities with the St. Eustache legend, especially in an animal or bird as messenger from God, the separation of the family, and the protagonist fighting with his children instead of against them.55 It is obviously a story of the patience and Job—like acceptance of Isumbras, especially in the middle section in which robber beasts carry off his children, a trial reminis- <3ent of the Constance legends. The crucial difference is izhat Isumbras himself is responsible for the chain of events. fiven Dieter Mehl and Hanspeter Schelp agree that this work 56 57 ssldould be called either "homiletic" or "exemplary." Like Isumbras, Amis and Amiloun is a testing story whose CBCDrdnection With legendary or religious material is clear-- (31:163 version of the story appears as a twelfth-century legend €1171<3 another as a fourteenth—century miracle play.58 In this 162 Middle English version, however, the heroes are not cele- brated as martyrs, but as exemplary characters demonstrating true friendship and loyalty regardless of the personal sacri- fices and painful repercussions. In some ways, this tale can be read as an anti-romance with its moral message that the bond of friendship takes precedence over personal fulfillment or private pleasure. Athelston, another testing of sworn brotherhood, struc- turally follows the Emma legend; it emphasizes the vindica- tion of Egeland and Edyff and the punishment of the traitor Wymond. Unlike a romance, this work has no real hero, no single protagonist who embodies all the superlatives of chi- valry. Instead, it involves a clear didactic moral that emerges as the story works through the various complications of a plot filled with ordeals and punishment before the even- tual triumph of justice. Sir Amadace, a didactic reworking of folk motifs of the Grateful Dead and Spendthrift Knight, involves a promise that is tested. Laura Hibbard Loomis admits that this poem is "less a romance than a moral tale. Its moral purport, that LIT including battle scenes that are "disproportionately nu- nqeanr‘ous."68 Its poet does seem to concentrate on exciting E3113isodes and adventures at the expense of a coherent and t h 0 ughtful story: 167 . . . it soon becomes clear that the poet is neither concerned with political problems nor with the progress of an exemplary hero, but that he wants to tell a lively and adventurous story which he tries to embellish with realistic and sometimes rather trivial detail. It is difficult to see that he had any higher aim than that.69 Two other works, Libeaus Desconus and Sir Perceval gg Galles, each approximately 2000 lines in length, are delib- erate reductions of their French originals. They transform courtly stories of maturation into adventure stories leaving only a slight overlay of courtly conventions. In the Perce- val story, a disinterest in the courtly, mystic, and relig- ious significance of the Grail legend is striking: But if the author knew the courtly poems on that legend, he broke away from them, and emphasized the spectacular and picturesque elements in his material. He also preserved some primitive fea- tures not found in the courtly pieces.7O Courtly love is excised, the Holy Grail is not even men- tioned, and any hint of mysticism has disappeared: The drastic abridgement and simplification of the story give greater unity to the poem and firmly put the hero in its center. The various adventures are not arbitrarily selected, but they form part of a larger episode: the ignorant child from the woods avenges his father and by his inborn prowess earns himgelf an honourable place among Arthur's knights. Libeaus Desconus is similar in its reduction of its source material in length, development, and especially meaning: Libeaus Desconus does not portray a significant development, but is a rather loosely constructed, though quite dramatic, story in praise of a parti- cularly daring and at the same time virtuous knight.72 Similarly, Ywain and Gawain shares this drastic 168 abridgement, disinterest in courtly love and chivalric re- finements, and absence of psychology. Instead of Chrétien de Troyes' elaborated, sophisticated courtly-love romance, this poem is reduced to an economical story of adventure and love. Thus, these eight narratives all depend on action and adventure to carry the story, sometimes at the expense of co- herent meaning or deliberate narrative design. MINSTREL TALES Eighteen works may be classified as minstrel tales, marked by a style that is both popular and simple. They often contain jingling or easy rhymes to aid oral delivery, almost meaningless tags to fill out a metrical line, and a straightforward, unembellished method of narration. In tone, theme, and treatment, these tales differ from romance, relig— ious exempla, and chansons gg_ggggg. Since they were chiefly intended for a non-aristocratic audience who demanded an in- teresting, fast-paced story, didacticism and literary embel- lishment were secondary to entertainment. The heroes of these works are generally unsubtle, un— complicated protagonists who engaged the popular imagination. They seldom languish in love or engage in extended monologue. Moreover, few of these works present the typical innocent sufferer of the religious exempla or the questing knight of romance. Instead, they range from folk tale to ballad and include some politically motivated stories. 169 A. Folk Tales: Eight relatively short works, all from 335 to 1148 lines, are more similar to traditional folklore than to ro- mance in their mode of narration, which demands a clear and simple story line uncluttered by literary subtleties or rhe- torical embellishment. According to Baldwin, the "earliest form of romance and the most permanent is fairy story."73 This may be partially true, but there are obvious differences between folklore and conscious literary works, as Archer Tay- lor demonstrates: . folklore uses conventional theme and stylis— tic devices and makes no effort to diguise their conventional quality while the literary artist either divests his work of conventional quality by avoiding cliches of either form or matter, or charges them with new content.7 The English Knight g: Curtegy and the Fair Lady g£_Fagu- ell and its 8000-line French source exemplify this distinc- tion. The French author embellishes and transforms folklore into a complex, highly literate work of art; the English au- thor strips away the ornament and restores the story to its simplest form. George Kane denounces the spareness and starkness of the simple English version, which is little more than a chivalric retelling of the original legend of the Eaten Heart: His work is bare of even the commonest evocative methods of the romances, such as the elaborate embroidery of detail or lavish description to ap- peal to the love of splendour for its own sake, or depictions of the familiar gracious attitudes of chivalry held just a little longer and more gra- ciOusly than they would be in real life for the pleasure of contemplating them. This is a drab 170 and colourless work, with many incredibly prosy lines.75 Such carping is meaningless with the realization that the Knight 93 Curtesy and the Fair Lady gf Faguell, along with other narratives, does not belong to the romance tradition at all; moreover, its faults become virtues in light of the sim- plicity required within folk tradition. Avowynge gf King Arthur develops according to the Law of Repetition, one of Axel Olrick's Epic Laws of Folk Narra- 76 tive. According to Olrick, repetition is the one method that folk narratives have for emphasis or plot complication: In literature, there are many means of producing emphasis, means other than repetition. For exam- ple, the dimensions and significance of something can be depicted by the degree and detail of the description of that particular object or event. In contrast, folk narrative lacks this full-bodied detail, for the most part, and its spare descrip- tions are all too brief to serve as an effective means of emphasis. Repetition in folklore is almost always in terms of threes: "Goldilocks and the Three Bears," "The Three Little Pigs," "The Three Feathers," "The Three Wishes." In the Avowynge gfi King Arthur, Arthur and his three companions make vows. Baldwin, who is more or less the central figure, takes a triple vow, is tested three times, and then tells three stories to explain his three vows. Unlike the typical ro- mance with the testing of a solitary knight, this narrative proceeds through multiple characters and multiple tests. Such repetition is even clearer in the testing of the three main characters in Syre Gawene and the Carle gf Care- lyl . All three heroes are put to the same test; Baldwin and 171 Kay fail, only Gawain passes. Later, Gawain undergoes three more tests and eventually succeeds in freeing the Carle from his twenty-year enchantment. According to Kurvinen, the tale combines three popular motifs: The Imperious Host, Curoi's Castle, and the Testing or Challenge.78 Clearly, the story is close to its sources with little attempt by the author to embroider the folk material. Turke and Gowin, another tale without any development or rationale for its unnatural events, merely combines a challenge story, including a beheading, with "a different story of grotesque contests of strength between the hero and 79 the king of a supernatural realm." Like the two versions of the Gawain and Carle of Carlisle story, this tale ends with the disenchantment of a knight who returns to Arthur's court and enters into its courtly life. All three stories move beyond disenchantment and express the desire to bring all the unknown or potentially threatening outside forces within the known and established world. The Weddynge g: Sir Gawen and Dame Ragnell is a courtly retelling of the Loathly Lady legend. It coats the popular tale with chivalric and courtly elements, including Arthur's solitary hunting and his encounter with the hart, as well as the glorified picture of Gawain as the courteous, gentle, al- most perfect knight. This story depends on the chivalric, courtly traditions for its setting and characters, but these do not change the basic legend. The idyllic Floris and Blancheflur includes all the 172 necessary ingredients for a fairy tale: "fantasy, escape, recovery, and consolation."8O Like the Knight g3 Curtesy and the Fair Lagy g3 Faguell, this poem condenses much of the ornate description and charged emotion of its French source: Throughout the poem, in fact, the speech of the characters is singularly fresh and natural, and the descriptive passages, though so much condensed, keep enough gaily colored detail to make them vivid. Although more detailed than some of the other tales, Floris and Blancheflur is still a simple story, and even the short rhyming couplets add to the briskness and simplicity of its style. An example of this plain style is the important scene in which the two lovers discuss the magic ring that can save only one of them: "Haue bis ryng, lemman myn; bou shalt not dye while it is byn." Blaunchefloure seide boo, "So ne shal it neuer goo bat bis ryng shal help me, And be deed on be see." Florys bat ryng hur rau3t And she it him agayn betau3t: Nouther ne wyl other deed seene; bey let it falle hem bytwene (ll. 968-77). Style and presentation are far from the courtly or literary rhetorical ornamentation and ostentatious display of learn- ing. Sir Degare, often classified among the Breton lays, seems much closer to folklore with its jingling rhythms and simple style than to the Breton lay or short romance. Since it does not call itself a lay or place itself within that tradition, its setting in Brittany is hardly sufficient to 173 classify it with the Breton lays. Instead, it seems to be a composite, combining "an astonishing number of folklore 82 H and romance motifs. Noting this composite nature of Sir Degare, several critics trace the author's treatment of his sources and ar- rive at quite different conclusions. Slover, who refers to the author as a "medieval hack," outlines the steps in the author's attempt to piece together a coherent tale from the legendary life of Pope Gregory and from the Sohrab and Rustem 83 story, which deals with a father-son combat. Bruce Rosen- berg, on the other hand, sees the story as a conflation of three folk tales: Aarne-Thompson (A-T) Type 706, The Maiden Without Hands," which accounts for the mother's problems with the seducer-father; A-T Type 931, "Oedipus," which gives rise to Degare's search for and near incest with his mother; and A-T Type 873, "The King Discovers his Unknown Son," which fits Degare's search for his father.8u Regardless of whether either critic is correct in explaining the use of source ma- terials, the author appropriates familiar folk motifs in composing what is clearly a composite work. With its simple, direct style and its treatment and presentation of the story, Sir Degare aligns itself with other folk tales and not with the more elaborate, embellished romances. Sir Cleges, the eighth work in this group, is clearly a minstrel's tale with its tags like "Will ye lystyn and ye schyll here" and "Forsooth, as i you saye." It is a delight- ful little story combining the motif of the Spendthrift 174 Knight who sorrows over his losses, yet accepts God's will, with the homey picture of the loving wife and children gathered around him on Christmas Eve. Along with other folk motifs such as Unseasonable Blooming Fruit and Shared Blows and its popular style with almost ballad-like repetitions, the story combines "humor, piety, and romance"85 in a charm- ing, simplistic way. There is no hint of the themes or style of romance--no courtliness, no quest, no knighthood. The typical encounters with dragons, giants, and awe-inspiring knights from romance are replaced by the surly and greedy porter, usher, and steward. The tale's affinity is obviously with the fabliau and folk tale. B. Political Moral Tales: Although they embody some of the same popular style and presentation as the folk tales of the previous subgroup, these four narratives are far more than simply entertaining minstrel songs. They are longer, more complex works with moral or political significance. Gamelyn, which begins with the common folk-tale situa- tion of the youngest son suffering at the hands of the cruel oldest brother, presents the disinheritance theme in a spir- ited account that relies on the realities and injustices of the medieval law system. Its author has an unusually detailed knowledge of the termi- nology and customs of fourteenth-century laws, and his romance presents a crude but convincing demon- stration of the clash between false legality and true justice. He is contemptuous of uncharitable 175 members of the monastic and mendicant orders; specifically, he mentions abbots, monks, priors, friars, grey friars, and canons. The clergy, on the other hand, escape his indignation. His crit- ical attitudes thus reflect the revolutionary spirit typical of his age. More than just a popular folk hero, Gamelyn is a Robin Hood figure whose activities go beyond the individual and impli- cate the corrupt social order. The story's moral point of justice restored must have been particularly attractive to a medieval audience that had witnessed the "notorious scandals of 1289 when the charges of bribery and corruption brought against certain chief justices and sheriffs led to a series of trials ."87 Like Gamelyn, Havelok is a simple, down-to—earth hero, and, unlike the conventional romance hero, he does not en— gage in mysterious quests, the wooing of a lovely lady, or self-introspection. But unlike Gamelyn, Havelok progresses from the popular folk hero to the ideal king as the author focuses on the social and political criticism implicit in the story: Whatever his sources may have been, however, he employed the material to make the romance genre the vehicle for the depiction of an ideal king; more importantly, at the same time he made this depiction the vehicle for a critical overview of the contemporary political situation and thg de- sires and complaints of the lower classes.8 This dual nature of Havelok as both a minstrel and a moral tale is exemplified in its composition with short rhyming couplets, full minstrel prologue of twenty-six lines, and the repeated reminders to listen, in addition to the un- derlying seriousness of the story, which presents a "portrait 176 89 of the growth and education of the ideal king." David Staines stresses that Havelok was "first and foremost an idealized biography cast in the form of a tale of action."90 While not as deliberately exemplary as Havelok, King Hggg relates the story of a heroic character who must revenge his father's death in order to regain his rightful kingdom. Nevertheless, Dieter Mehl sees this tale as an exemplum in "the glorification of the hero and the description of a per- 91 fect prince." In technique, however, the poem resembles the other minstrel tales with its "spareness and directness, its comparative freedom from elaborations, accretions and 92 In the conception of the lusty fighting digressions." hero, lack of interest in the romantic element, glorifica- tion of prowess, the simple and unsubtle characters, and the straightforward telling of the story, King Horn is far more reminiscent of folk narrative than of romance. Sir Orfeo, with its emphasis on loyal stewardship, is a type of moral minstrel song that transforms the underlying classical legend into a Christian exemplum of fortitude and 93 reward. In its rhyme scheme and structure, it resembles the general form of the Breton lay. Nonetheless, this poem's serious intention, which has been described as a reflection of the uncertainty of the world and an affirmation of the 94 power of love, self—sacrifice, and loyalty, aligns it more closely with the other three political moral tales. 177 C. Breton Lays: The next three works all claim to be lays and do in fact fall within the well-known tradition of the Breton lay, a type of narrative popularized by Marie de France in the twelfth century: In her hands the Breton lay is a short narrative poem of roughly a hundred to a thousand lines, in short couplets, treating in a single adventure and without digression some aspect of love. Since it ranges from realistic story to fairy tale, it is identified most readily by its prologue and epi- logue; usually a Breton source is mentioned or the setting is given as ancient Brittany or Britain.95 Even though it is questionable whether this type of nar- rative constitutes a separate genre, references to the Breton lay are common, though at times they may be little more than "a trick of the poet to lend authority or the charm of age to 96 his story." Critics usually include eight poems under the designation: Chaucer's Franklin's Tale, Sir Launfal and its variants, Sir Orfeo, Lai lg Freine, Sir Deggre, Earl of Tou— lous, Emare, and Sir Gowther, but Mortimer Donovan excludes the last three from consideration in his study.97 In this chapter, Emare, Sir Degare, Sir Gowther, and Sir Orfeo have already been categorized elsewhere, and so there remain only three poems in this classification, two of which are trans- lations of Marie de France's lays. In lgl lg Freine, the setting has shifted from Marie de France's Brittany to the west of England; the basic story line, however, remains unchanged. It is a charmingly told tale, which combines "the motifs of the twin birth, the child separated from its parents and reunited, and the husband with 178 98 two wives." The other translation of a French lay, Sir Launfal, is an expanded version of the Lanval story, including two epi- sodes not found in any of the sources of the poem: the tour- nament at Caerleon and the combat with Sir Valentine: Certain other passages, which treat Guinevere's infidelity and the ambitious Mayor, render plau- sible the claim that the poem suffers a shift in purpose and, while beginning somewhat realisti- cally, ends as a fairy type of lay.99 This particular version by Thomas Chestre seems to rely on several typical chivalric and courtly themes, which he grafts onto the basic story to expand and popularize the material. The last poem considered a lay is Eggl gf Toulous, a short poem of 1224 lines in twelve-line rhyming stanzas. It has a direct, fast-moving, dramatic style characteristic of the other lays, and its interest lies in the love element. Lacking the typical prologue, epilogue, or specifically Breton setting, the poem is not, however, a particularly good example of this narrative type. Moreover, it refers to it— self as a lay only at the ending, almost as an afterthought. Certainly in its style and presentation, it is similar to the English versions of lays as well as to the folk tales, and its focus on the love of the Earl and the Empress of Almayne is typical of the love interest of the lays. Yet in its various episodes (disguise as a hermit, secret obser- vation of a beautiful woman, treacherous ambush, false accu- sation of infidelity, planting an innocent boy as the sup- posed adulterer, trial by combat, innocence vindicated, and 179 the eventual marriage of the champion and the innocent wom- an), the tale is certainly reminiscent of many of the other chivalric narratives already discussed. Somewhat of a curi- osity, Eggl g2 Toulous does not fit readily into any cate- gory; it seems to lie somewhere between the lay and romance with many similarities to the folk tales. D. Chivalric Ballads: The four remaining poems are short, ballad—like chival- ric tales. The closeness of balladry to folklore has often been discussed, and M. J. C. Hodgart draws attention to just a few of the many parallels: [Ballads] have in common with fairy tales the use of fixed formulas and of incremental repetition, particularly in groups of three, and a fondness for rich ornament in description of heroes and heroines. Ballads, however, often lack the happy endings and the im- plicit didacticism of many folk narratives. Despite these differences, similarities between these four poems and the ballad are unmistakable. David Fowler, in his illuminating study of the ballad, offers the Carle off Carlile, the Grene Knight, and Eger and Grime as examples of minstrel tales close to balladry: "Eger and Grime" is of course not a ballad; it is a romance. But in the Percy Folio MS version it has taken one important step in the direction of balladry, not indeed through a deliberate recrea- tion by the folk, but rather through a deliberate structural change attributable to the narrative art of the minstrel.101 The use of parallelism, narrative speed and pacing, brevity 180 and conciseness, and repetition are all shared features be- tween the minstrel tales and ballads. In Eger and Grime, the structural parallels, the repe- tition of episodes, and verbal patterning all indicate its closeness to balladry: Through all my armour, lesse and more (1. 147) Through all my armour more and less (1. 177) Then of a castle I goot a sight, Of a castle and of a towne (ll. 206-07) And a lady came forth of a fresh arbor She came forth of that garden greene (ll. 212-13). Earlier scenes are repeated later in the narrative almost verbatim; for example, 11. 263-70 reappear as ll. 851-56, and 11. 749-54 are repeated as 11. 881-86. The Grene Knight is a shortened and simplified minstrel account of Sir Gawain and the Green Knight, containing line fillers, stylized descriptions, and other minstrel devices that are "foretastes of what is to be thought of later as typical ballad diction."102 Similarly, the language of Carle off Carlile echoes late ballad technique, especially in its parallelisms and descriptions. With its compression, quick narrative movement and dic— tion, Sir Tristrem shares the same qualities as the other three poems: "Sir Tristrem," considered in its formal aspect, holds a place midway between the metrical romance and the ballad. Its length, and the wide sweep of its narrative, make it resemble the metrical ro- mance, while its strophic form, its rapid transi- tions, and its brief episodes, give it some kinship with the ballad.10 In its story material, Sir Tristrem borrows from the great 181 courtly romances, but in the telling of the story, the poem is clearly a minstrel tale quite similar to the ballad. It has been severely criticized for its popular style and stere- otyped diction, but these are not necessarily faults if the ballad and minstrel traditions are used as measures of the tale's merits. Like most of the Middle English narratives, these works are not courtly romance and should not be judged by the criteria appropriate to that genre. Of the eighty-two Middle English verse narratives, only seven conform to the style, intent, conventions, narrative techniques, and meaning of the romance genre. The remaining works fit better in different categories that more accurately reflect each work's intention, structure, meaning, and affin- ity with other, similar narratives. Only one work, the Egg- bridge Alexander-Cassamus Fragment, is omitted from the cate- gories developed in this chapter. Its brevity and incom- pleteness prevent any logical or justifiable classification in this scheme. All the other so-called romances, however, readily fall into the four categories besides Romance: twenty-seven are best described as Popularized Pseudo- Histories, twenty as Didactic Pietistic Tales, eight as Chi- valric Adventure Stories, and nineteen as Minstrel Tales. NOTES 1 C. David Benson, The History g: Troy lg Middle English Literature (Suffolk, England: D. S. Brewer, 1980), p. 35. 2Luann Kitchel, "A Critical Study of the Middle English Alexander Romances," Diss. Michigan State Univ. 1973, p. 56. 3Helaine Newstead, "Arthurian Legends," in A Manual g£ the Writings gf Middle Egglish 1050—1500, ed. J. Burke Severs (New Haven: Conn. Acad. of Arts and Sciences, 1967), p. 44; hereafter referred to as Manual. 1; Benson, p. 42. 5 6Benson, p. 57. Benson, p. 47. 7R. M. Lumiansky, "Legends of Alexander the Great," in Manual, p. 108. 8Derek Pearsall, John Lydgate (London: Routledge and Kegan Paul, 1970), p. 155. 9A. Erdmann and E. Ekwall, eds., Siege f Thebes, EETSES 125 (London: Oxford Univ. Press, 1930), p. 12. 10Robert Ayers, "Medieval History, Moral Purpose, and the Structure of Lydgate's Siege gfi Thebes," PMLA, 73 (1958), 474. 11Walter Schirmer, John Lydgate, trans. Ann E. Keep (Berkeley: Univ. of Calif. Press, 1961), p. 44. 12 Schirmer, p. 64. 13Pearsall, p. 129. 1”John Studer, "History as Moral Instruction: John Lyd- gate's Record of Troie Toun," Emporia State Research Studies, 19 (1970), 5-13. 15 Ayers, pp. 463-74. 182 183 16George Kane, Middle English Literature (London: Methuen, 1951), p. 69: "The many contradictions inherent in the accumulated material of the Arthur legend confuse the issues so completely in any case that no moral point of View could be consistently maintained with regard to it"; and Dieter Mehl, The Middle English Romances gl the Thirteenth and Fourteenth Centuries (London: Routledge and Kegan Paul, 1969), p. 188: "Thus, the story is not based on an ethical conflict or Christian morality, but on a clash of loyalties which can only end in tragedy and which, with its sinister and unavoidable logic, rather suggests a Germanic and pre- Christian mentality." 17Velma Richmond, The Pogglarity gl Middle English fig- mances (Bowling Green, Ohio: Bowling Green Univ. Popular Press, 1975), p. 29. 18 Kitchel, p. 27. 19Kitchel, p. 87. 2OKitchel, p. 88. 21G. v. Smithers, ed., K n Alisaunder, EETSOS 237 (Lon— don: Oxford Univ. Press, 1957 , p. 28. 22 Smithers, pp. 29-31, 23Mehl, pp. 231-32. 2MB. Kdlbing, ed., Arthour and Merlin, nach der Auchin- leck g-S., Altenglische Bibliothek, 4 (Leipzig: O. R. Reis- land, 1889). 25 26M. E. Barnicle, ed., The Seege gg Bata le gl Troye, EETSOS 172 (London: Oxford Univ. Press, 1927), p. xxxiii. 27Larry D. Benson, "The Alliterative Morte Arthure and Medieval Tragedy," Tennessee Studies lg Literature, 11 (1966), 75-87; and John Finlayson, ed., Morte Arthure (Lon- don: Edward Arnold, 1967), 1-20. 28 Mehl, p. 241. Newstead, p. 45. 29William Matthews, The Tragegy g: Arthur (Berkeley: univ. of Calif. Press, 1960), 95-96. 3OFinlayson, p. 14. 31 32 C. David Benson, p. 67. Lumiansky, p. 117. 184 33H. 34 35 M. Smyser, "Charlemagne Legends," in Manual, p. 81. Kane, p. 40. Newstead, p. 74. 36Kane, p. 59. 37Lillian Herlands Hornstein, "Miscellaneous Romances," in Manual, p. 160. 38Hanspeter Schelp, Exemplarische Romanzen in Mittel- englischen, Palaestra, 246 (Gottingen: Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht, 1967). 39Mehl, pp. 120-58. Mehl includes Sege gf Melayne, which I have classified as "Militant Christian and Propagan- distic History" because of its historical nature. We obvi- ously agree, however, on its Christian pietistic impulses. uoDiana Childress, "Between Romance and Legend: Secular Hagiography in Middle English Literature," 39, 57 (1978), 311-22. Her classification of nine works agrees with mine, but I have placed Roland and Vernagu, Otuel and Roland, Sege of Melayne, and Josegh of Arimathie under "Militant Christian and Propagandistic Histories. Schelp includes Havelok and Sir Cleges, which I have reclassified as "Minstrel Tales"; Siege gf Thebes, which I have called a "Moral History"; and Alexander 9 and Morte Arthure, which I have designated as "Romantic or Epic Histories." Schelp perceives a much more clearly defined didactic intention in these four works than I do. ”1Childress, p. 312. uzDerek Pearsall, "John Capgrave' 3 Life of St. Katherine and Popular Romance Style," Medievalia et Humanistica, NS 6 (1975), 121-37; and Paul M. Clogan, ed., _Medieval Hagiography and Romance, Medievalia gg Humanistica, NS 6 (1975): 1- 223. u3Margaret Hurley, "Saints' Legends and Romance Again: Secularization of Structure and Motif," Genre, 8 (1975), 63. ”Jeanne S. Martin, "Character as Emblem: Generic Trans- formation in the Middle English Saint's Lives," Mosaic, 8 (1975), 48, 60. --- uSLillian Herlands Hornstein, "Eustache-Constance- Florence-Griselda Legends," in Manual, p. 125. uéLaura Hibbard Loomis, Medieval Romance in England, 2nd ed. (New York. Burt Franklin, 1954): p.16. 47 Loomis, p. 15. 185 8Hornstein, "Eustache," p. 132. ugHornstein, "Eustache," p. 131. 50Loomis, p. 58. 51Loomis, pp. 60-61. 52Loomis, p. 51. 53Ralph Hanna III, ed., The Awntyrs off Arthure gg the the Terne Wathelyn (Manchester: Manchester Univ. Press, 1974), p. 24. 5“David N. Klausner, "Exempla and The Awntyrs gl Ag- thure," Medieval Studies, 34 (1972), 307-25. 55Laurel Braswell, "Sir Isumbras and the Legend of St. Eustache," Medieval Studies, 27 (1965), 128-51. 56 Mehl, pp. 128-35. 57Schelp, pp. 53-64. 58Loomis, p. 65. 59Loomis, p. 74. 6OMehl, p. 216. 61Mehl, p. 227. 62 David N. Klausner, "Didacticism and Drama in Guy gl Warwick," Medievalia gg Humanistica, NS 6 (1975), 103-19. 63Mehl, p. 224. 6“Mehl, p. 245. 65Richmond, p. 80. 66Loomis, p. 141. 67Loomis, p. 97. 68Charles W. Dunn, "Romances Derived from English Leg- ends," in Manual, p. 21. 69Mehl, p. 56. 70W. H. French and C. B. Hale, eds., Middle English Met- rical Romances (New York: Prentice—Hall, 1930), p. 53. 71 Mehl, p. 102. 186 72Mehl, p. 73. 73Charles Sears Baldwin, Three Medieval Centuries Lf Literature in England, 1100-1400 (Boston: Little, Brown, 1932), p. 51. 7“Archer Taylor, "Folklore and the Student of Litera- ture," 1948; rpt. in The Study Lf Folklore, ed. Alan Dundes (Englewood Cliffs, N. J. Prentice- Hall, 1965), pp. 39-40. 75 76Axel Olrik, "Epic Laws of Folk Narratives," 1909; rpt. in The Study Lf Folklore, ed. Alan Dundes (Englewood Cliffs, N. J.: Prentice- Hall, 1965), p. 132. 77 Kane, pp. 22-23. Olrik, pp. 132-33. 78Auvo Kurvinen, ed. , Sir Gawain and the Carl of Car- lisle lg Two Versions, Annales Academicae Scientiarum Fenni- cae, Series B, 71, pt. 2 (1951), 80- 90. 79 8OBruno Bettelheim, The Uses Lf Enchantment (New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 1977), p. 149. 81 82Loomis, p. 302. Newstead, p. 59. Loomis, p. 187. 83Clark Slover, "Sir Degare, a Study of a Medieval Hack Writer's Methods," Universi_y Texas Bulletin, Studies lg English, 2 (1931), 5- 23. 8“Bruce Rosenberg, "The Three Tales of Sir Degare," Neu- philologische Mitteilungen, 76 (1975), 39-51. 85 86Dunn, p. 32. Loomis, p. 79. 87 88David Staines, "Havelok the Dane: A Thirteenth- Century Handbook for Princes," Speculum, 51 (1976), 607. Loomis, p. 162. 89Staines, p. 602. 90Staines, p. 613. 91Mehl, p. 51. 92John Speirs, Medieval English Poetry (London: Faber 187 and Faber, 1957), p. 179. 93Thomas B. Hanson, "Sir Orfeo: Romance as Exemplum," Annuale Mediaevale, 13 (1972), 154. 9”James Knapp, "The Meaning of Sir Orfeo," MLQ, 29 (1968), 263-73. 95 Mortimer J. Donovan, "Breton Lays," in Manual, p. 133. 96Kemp Malone and Albert C. Baugh, The Middle Ages, Vol. I of A Literary History gl England, 2nd ed., ed. Albert C. Baugh (New York: Appleton-Century-Crofts, 1967), p. 196. 97Mortimer J. Donovan, The Breton Lay (Notre Dame: Univ. of Notre Dame Press, 1969), p. 234. 98 Donovan, "Breton Lays," p. 135. 99 100M. J. C. Hodgart, The Ballads (London: Hutchinson Universal Press, 1950), p. 114} 101David Fowler, 5 Literary History gl the Popular Bal- lad (Durham: Duke Univ. Press, 1968), p. 146. 102 Donovan, "Breton Lays," p. 139. Fowler, p. 140. 103George P. McNeill, ed., Sir Tristrem, Scottish Text Society, 8 (Edinburgh: William Blackwood and Sons, 1886), p. xlv. CHAPTER FIVE CONCLUSION To my knowledge, the study carried out in the preceding chapters is the most thorough investigation of the Middle English verse narratives since the distinguished works of Loomis in 1924 and Mehl in 1967. While each of these studies discusses less than forty narratives in any detail, mine covers eighty-two works written between 1225 and ca. 1500. Before I survey the insights gained from this extensive exam- ination, it may be useful to recall the motive behind the un- dertaking. The chief of these--the motive that moved all others--is the consistent and uncritical disdain with which scholars and readers have viewed these narratives since they have been made available by the editors of the past century.y Velma Richmond has described this situation bluntly and suc- cinctly: The Middle English romance has elicited throughout the centuries a curious mixture of indifference, hostile apprehension, and contempt that perhaps no other literature--except its most likely off- spring, modern best-sellers--has provoked.1 With the exception of Sir Gawain and the Green Knight and occasionally a few others, these pieces have ended in a sort of promiscuous discard bin, labelled loosely "kitchen ro- mances," "minstrel romances," or some other equally demeaning 188 189 term. Consequently, they are all reduced to a level some- where below mediocrity in a genre implying or stating that they are debased romance. The most important reason for this overwhelmingly nega- tive response, as I have pointed out, is the generic label. The problem began in the first period of modern scholarship in Middle English literature when Ellis and Ritson separately labeled them "romances," a most inaccurate term, which has distorted scholarship on the subject for well over a century. Both Loomis and Mehl were quite aware of this problem, but since their aims were broadly expository, they sidestepped the issue, and after some caveats, surrendered to the tradi- tional terminology as the one most familiar and comfortable to their readers. But the term "romance" has produced, as this study has shown, the inevitable comparisons with narra- tives from a different century and a different country, no- tably twelfth-century France. Judged against a genre to which they did not belong, these works have been found to be debased, inadequate, clumsy--romans manqués. It is true that many of the Middle English narratives rely on elements derived from romance: courtly and aristo- cratic settings, romantic love, Arthurian protagonists, and some familiar plot motifs; but when in Chapter Two, each work was tested against the five criteria established as fundamen- tal to medieval romance, only seven of the eighty-two satis- fied them completely. The other works were scattered along a broad continuum of overlapping genres from balladry and 190 folk tales on the one end to chronicle and history on the other. In between the two extremes lie the minstrel tales with their moral, political, or social significance; the saint's legends with their exemplary intent; the pietistic and didactic tales which combine entertainment and morality; the chivalric adventure stories, and the English chansons gg ggggg that combine Christian militancy with religious enthu- siasm. With the exception of some of the histories (most notably Arthur), a few adventure stories (in particular Ggy and Colbrond and Jeaste gl Syr Gawayne), and the ballad-like tales (especially Sir Tristrem), the majority of the Middle English works share a strong moral and didactic sense, which cannot be traced to French or Anglo-Norman originals. The preceding chapters, then, have made clear that the only way to understand these Middle English works is to rec- ognize their diversity, appreciate their differences, and evaluate them in their proper contexts which extend from folk tale to chronicle. This new perspective does not force a work to conform to patterns, conventions, and meanings alien to it, but allows it to speak for itself and its kin- ship with other narratives most like itself. These Middle English works no longer suffer from the blanket application of the term "romance," which has forced critics to misjudge their intentions and misgauge their meaning. Of course, no one would claim that these poems are great works of art or literary masterpieces. Nonetheless, they de- serve a fair appraisal as examples of medieval English 191 fiction. Such a large body of work, spanning several cen- turies certainly represents a significant segment of English literary history, which must be understood on its own terms. The narratives cover numerous genres other than romance, and much more work needs to be conducted on the interrelation- ships between the Middle English poems and sermon literature, hagiography, and balladry. Without an unjustified preoccupa- tion with romance, critics will now be able to concentrate their future investigations on more relevant aspects of these works. Within the framework suggested by this study, much of the critical dissent over Amis and Amiloun as "chivalric ro- mance" or "secular hagiography"2 would turn out to be much ado about nothing. Obviously the piece is "a highly unsatis- factory example of the genre of romance,"3 but that does not in itself imply that the work must be a secular saint's life. Although clearly resembling both genres, it is just as clearly neither romance nor hagiography. Even worse than this sort of generic quibbling is the controversy about whether the sources are primarily heroic and primitive or primarily Celtic.” Rather than pigeon—holing, critics should try to understand the poem as a whole, which makes use of various motifs and diverse sources without being limited to a single tradition. Each critic is partially right in inves- tigating the non-romance aspects of the poem, but also par- tially wrong in insisting that it fit into some specific, narrow niche. 192 Future studies in the realm of Middle English verse narratives may well center on the difficult problems of pur- pose and audience, which can perhaps be studied most objec- tively through a re-examination of manuscripts. It is signi- ficant, for example, that none of the works examined appears in collections with Chaucer, Gower, or other romance litera- ture. Their placement in collections of devotional and di- dactic literature strongly suggests that in their own day they were considered as "legends or pious tales, similar to 5 sermon exempla." Josegh g: Arimathie, King g3 Tars, and Roberd gl Cisyle all appear in the Bodl. 3938 MS (Vernon MS), a "purely religious manuscript."6 Another religious, homi- letic collection, Additional 31.042 (Thornton MS), contains Sege gl Melayne, Roland and Otuel, Richard Coer gg Lyon, 7 and Siege gl Jerusalem. A similar collection of didactic and religious works, Camb. Univ. MS, contains Earl of Tou- lous, Sir Eglamour gl Artois, Sir Triamour, Octavian (North- ern version), Bevis gl Hampton, Bone Florence of Rome, Sir Degare, Roberd gl Cisyle, and Guy gl Warwick. The second half of Cotton Caligula A.2 MS, which includes Emare, Siege gl Jerusalem, Chevalere Assigne, and Sir Isumbras, is yet another collection of mostly moral and religious pieces. Interestingly, Sir Isumbras appears between Chevalere Assigne and two devotional poems, "Quinque Vulnera" and "Quinque Gaudia." The famous Auchinleck Manuscript is generally considered to be a collection of mostly religious and devotional works. 193 It includes four saints' legends, seven other religious nar- ratives, two religious debates, three homiletic and monitory poems, three poems of religious instruction, one chronicle, one list of Norman barons, two humorous tales, three poems of satire and complaint, The Seven Sages gl Rome, and seven- 9 teen so-called romances. The nature of the King gl Tars may well have determined its placement as the second item in the collection, preceded by a saint's legend and followed by eight religious or homiletic pieces, then Amis and Amiloun, five more religious pieces, and finally Sir Degare. After the list of Norman barons, Guy g: Warwick, Rein- brun, Son gl Glj, Bevis gl Hampton, and Arthour and Merlin immediately follow--a further confirmation of their affilia- tion with historical traditions. Even more interesting is the insertion of a fragment of Arthour and Merlin into a prose chronicle in the Harley 6223 MS and the inclusion of Richard Coer gg Lyon in two historical manuscripts, Harley 4690 and College of Arms. Similarly, Arthur is inserted into a Latin chronicle on the kings of England in Liber rubeus Bathoniae. The pseudo-historical works are most often associated with other historical accounts in the manuscripts, and the didactic and pietistic pieces are usually not differentiated from devotional material. In fact, the majority of these poems appear in manuscripts with unmistakable didactic lean- ing. This didacticism, however, is not exclusive to these 194 Middle English works; it is a common element in varying de- grees in much fiction. It does seem true though that the moral element in the literature of England became progres- sively more blatant up to the fifteenth century: Didacticism becomes more obvious in the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries, but it had already been present, if not crudely obvious, in courtly lit- erature, and its increasing importance is due at least in part to the revival of the stricter moral standards within the church and to the influence of scholasticism.1O In England in the fifteenth century, the bourgeois audience accounted for part of the great difference between the Eng- lish works and the French courtly romances: . emphasis on morals had to do with the chang- ing tastes of the ages, with the growth of a new bourgeois reading class who were less interested in the artificial conventions of love than in common-sense morality.11 This increase in didacticism, the change in audience, and the differences between France and England from the twelfth to the fourteenth centuries, all frequently noted in the past, are interesting problems, but peripheral to this study. Instead, this dissertation confronts the problem of genre and demonstrates the need to eliminate the indiscrim- inate use of the term "romance" for the bulk of these Middle English verse narratives and to replace it with the terminol- ogy developed in Chapter Four. The traditional label should be restricted to the seven works that actually satisfy the criteria of the romance genre. Only in this way can the ge- neric problem be resolved. Since these eighty-two narratives have been wrongly categorized, A Manual gl Writings lg 195 Middle English should be revised to reflect these more accu- rate generic classifications. Until we rid ourselves of the term "romance" with its associated preconceptions, we will be unable to evaluate these works adequately, perhaps even to understand them in terms of their own intentions and narra- tive techniques. NOTES 1Velma Richmond, The Popularity of Middle English Ro- mances (Bowling Green, Ohio: Bowling GFEen Univ. Popular—— Press, 1975), p. 1. 2Ojars Kratins, "The Middle English Amis and Amiloun: Chivalric Romance or Secular Hagiography?" PMLA, 81 (1966), 347-54. 3Kratins, p. 347. ”See Delmar C. Homan, "Old Gods in New Garb: The Making of Amis and Amiloun," Diss. Columbia 1964 for the Celtic theory and MacEdward Leach in his introduction to Amis ggg Amiloun, EETSOS 203 (London: Oxford Univ. Press, 1937) for emphasis on the primitive and heroic qualities. 5Karl Brunner, "Middle English Metrical Romances and their Audience," in Studies lg Medieval Literature lg Honor gl Professor 5. Q. Baugh, ed. MacEdward Leach (Philadelphia: Univ. of Penn. Press, 1962), p. 225; and Dieter Mehl, lgg Middle English Romances g: the Thirteenth and Fourteenth Centuries (London: Routledge and Kegan Paul, 1969), p. 126. 6Brunner, p. 225. 7 8 Mehl, pp. 259-60. Mehl, p. 260. 9Derek Pearsall, The Auchinleck Manuscript (London: Scholar Press, 1977), introduction. The ordering of the man- uscript is as follows: 1) saint's life, 2) Kin gl Tars, 3) religious narrative, 4) & 5) saints' legends, 5) religious narrative, 7) religious debate, 8) & 9) religious narrative, 10) homiletic and monitory poems, 11) Amis and Amiloun, 12) saint's life, 13) religious narrative, 14) & 15) religious instruction, 16) religious narrative, 17) Sir Degare, 18) Seven Sages gl Rome, 19) Floris and Blanchefleur, 20) satire and complaint, 21) list of Norman barons, 22), 23), & 24) Ggy of Warwick and Reinbrun, Son of Gi', 25) Bevis of Ham ton, 26) Arthour and Merlin, 27) &_28)_Humorous taleET 29) religi- ous narratives, 30) Lgl lg Freine, 31) Roland and Otuel, 32) Otuel g Knight, 33) Lyfe of Alisaunder, 34) religious debate, 196 197 35) homiletic and monitory poem, 36) religious instruction, 37) Sir Tristrem, 38) Sir Orfeo, 39) homiletic and monitory poem, 40) chronicle, 41) Horn Child, 42) satire and com- plaint, 43) Richard Coer gg Lyon, and 44) satire and com- plaint. W. T. H. Jackson, The Literature of the Middle Ages 10 (New York: Columbia Univ. Press, 1960), ST 60. 11Derek Pearsall, ed., The Floure and the Leafe and the Assembly gl Ladies (Edinburgh: Thomas Nelson and Sons, 1962), p. 1. APPENDICES 198 APPENDIX A GENERIC LABELS: CLASSIFIED BY WORK 1. Alexander B: "gestes" "process" "tale" 2. Alexander B: "sawe"? 3. Alexander C: title 1. 171 l. 45 II. 1033, 1109? 4. Amis and Amiloun: "geste" "Pime" "romance" "tale" "talkyng" "vita" ll. 15 (Douce, Egerton, Hale), 38 (Hale), 157, 409 (Auchinleck, Douce, Egerton), 1501, 1917, 2173, 2343, 2436 l. 38 (Egerton) l. 15 (Egerton) l. 441 ll. 39 (Douce, Egerton, Hale), 409 (Hale), 484 (Auchinleck, Douce, Egerton) explicit 5. Amoryus and Cleopes: "book" "process" "StOPY" ll. 57, 242, 2177 ll. 155, 162 ll. 51, 93, 106, 236, 1156, 2104, explicit 6. Arthour and Merlin: "book" "geste" "matter" 1. 5647 l. 7618 l. 663 10. 11. 12. 13. 14. 15. "romance" 11. Arthur: 199 31, 626, 7271, 8227, 9405, 9657, etc. Avowynge g: King Arthur: "tale" Stanza LXII, l. 1 Awntyrs off Arthur: Bevis gl Hampton: "geste" l. "rime" ll. "romance" 11. "spell" 1. "story" 1. "tale" 1. Bone Florence gl "romance" 1. "story" 1. 3963 1216, 3963 1216 (Chetham 8009, Egerton, Naples), 1925 1484 1142 1 Rome: 2185 2175 Cambridge Alexander-Cassamus Fragment (no title, no heading, and imperfect beginning and ending): 200 16. Chevalere Assigne: "sawe" l. 2185 "tale" 1. 93 17. Destruction f Troy: "book" chapter headings "matter" 1. 4278 "Process" 11. 9075, 13774, 14043 "story" II. 4028, 5551 "tale" 11. 665, 747, 1508, 2094, 2724, 3731, 4278, 4458, etc. "work" I. 4 18. Duke Roland and Sir Otuel gl Sgain: "romance" 1. 37, heading, explicit 19. Earl gl Toulous: "geste" l. 1219 "lay" l. 1220 "romance" title (Lincoln) "tale" 1. 8 20. Eger and Grime: 21. Emare: "lay" l. 1030 "plaint" l. 1032 "song" 1. 24 "story" 1. 1029 "tale" 1. 948 22. Fillingham Firumbras: "geste" ll. 55, 1831, 1836 201 23. Floris and Blancheflur (beginning and ending missing): 24. Gamelyn: "talkyng" ll. 2, 140 25. a) Generides (Helmingham): "book" I. 2550 (introduction) "geste" l. 23 "history" incipit, explicit "matter" 1. 1993 "tale" ll. 30, 33, 2553, 3770, 10081 b) Generides (Trinity College): "book" explicit "process" I. 6990 26. Grene Knight: "tale" ll. 282, 523 27. Guy and Colbrond: "geste" l. 632 28. Guy gl Warwick: "geste" Stanza 35, l. 12; Stanza 44, l. 2; Stanza 255, l. 6; explicit (Caius) "matter" 1. 108 "romance" Stanza 1, l. 1 "spell" l. 4819 "story" 1. 8654 (Caius) 29. Havelok: "geste" l. 2984 "rime" ll. 21, 23, 2995, 2998 "story" I. 1641 30. 31. 32. 33. 34. 35. 36. 37. "tale" II. 202 3, 5, 12, 13 "vita" heading History gl the Holy Grail: "book" Chap. 12, l. 336; Chap. 14, l. 48; etc. "matter" Chap. 12, l. 336; Chap. 33, l. 541 "process" Chap. 56, l. 536 "story" Chap. 12, l 336; Chap. 14, l. 48; Chap. 18, l. 11; Chap. 33, l. 541; etc. "talkynge" Chap. 12, l. 1 Horn Child: "geste" l. 1120 Ipomedon g (tail-rhyme): "rime" 1. "romance" 1. "tale" 1. 5337 5337 1258, heading Ipomedon B (couplet): Jeaste gl Syr Gawayne: "geste" 1. 537, heading, explicit Josegh gl Arimathie: "life" title "matter" 1. King Horn: "song" 11. "tale" 1. King gl Tars: "geste" l. "sawe"? ll. 364 2, 3, 1028 1525 981 411, 1119 (possibly refers to source) 203 "tale"? 11. 411, 1119 (possibly refers to source) 38. Knight gl Curtesy and the Fair Lady g: Faguell: "treatise" l. 504, incipit, explicit 39. Lai lg Freine: "lay" ll. 14, 22 "rime" l. 14 40. Laud Troy Book: "matter" 1. 168 "romance" 11. 18640, 18659 "spell" I. 104 "story" I. 73 "tale" ll. 5, 7 41. Libeaus Desconus: "life" I. 2205 (Ashmole) "tale" 1. 4 (Additional) "treatise" incipit (Lambeth Place) 42. Lyfe gl Alisaunder: "geste" 11. 30?, 2203, 2205 "romance" 1. 1916 "tale" 1. 2048 43. Merlin: "book" 11. 10081, 16865 "matter" 11. 10077, 10255, 10545, 17159, etc. "process" 1. 16709 "spell" I. 9464 "story" ll. 1676, 1831, 3477, 4179, 4639, 5641, 6256, 7019, etc. "tale" 11. 10522, 11789, 12869 204 44. Morte Arthur (stanzaic): 45. Morte Arthure (alliterative): "tale" 46. a) Octavian "romance" "sawes" "talkyng" b) Octavian "geste" "romance" "tale" 1. 16 (Northern): heading 1. 7 l. 2 (Southern): 1. 488 l. 1811 l. 427 47. Otuel g Knight: 48. Otuel and Roland: "rime" "Sawe " "tale" 1. 2187 l. 1161 l. 1976 49. Partonope gl Blois: "book" "geste" "matter" "romance" "story" "tale" 50. Beinbrun, Son 11. 60, 64 1. 458 11. 478, 2350 I. 12195 1. 2336 11. 507, 4488, 10286 _B Gij: 51. 52. 53- 54. 55. 56. 57. 58. 205 Richard Coer gg Lyon: "history" "romance" "sawe" "story" "tale" "vita" Roberd gl Cisyle: incipit (Wynkyn's print) 11. l. 5 202, 7209 (Additional) 101 explicit (Wynkyn's print) II. 5099, 6723 incipit (Gonville and Caius) Roland and Vernagu: Romauns gl Partenay: "bOOk" "dites" "history" "romance" "work" I. 1. ll. 11. l. Seege _l Troye: "geste" "spell" I. l. Sege gl Melayne: "geste" l. 20 6413 156, 194 6417, 6418 207 980 (Arundel) 9 7 80 (Lincoln's Inn) Siege gl Jerusalem: "geste" explicit (Cambridge Univ., (Lambeth Place) Siege gl Thebes: "SLOPY" 11. 184, 874 Cotton Caligula, 59. 60. 61. 62. 63. 64. 65. 66. 67. 68. 206 "tale" 11. 176 (prologue), 180, 322, 2248, 2440, etc. Sir Amadace (beginning missing): Sir Eglamour gl Artois: "geste" 11. 905, 1339 "romance" 1. 1333 (Lincoln Cathedral) Sir Gawain and the Green Knight: "lay" l. 30 Sir Gowther: "romance" 1. 537 "story" 1. 746 "tale" 1. 29 Sir Isumbras: "history" incipit (Douce) "romance" incipit (Thornton) "story" 1. 137 (Thornton) Sir Launfal: "lay" l. 4 "tale" ll. 23. 1039 Sir Orfeo: "lay" 1. 601 1046, 1059, 69. 70. 71. 72. 73. 74. 75. 76. 77. 78. 79. 207 Sir Perceval g: Galles: "romance" incipit, explicit Sir Torrent g: Portyngale: "romance" 1. 2661 "tale" incipit Sir Triamour: "story" ll. 5, 11 Sir Tristrem: Sowdon gl Babylon: "gestes"? l. 3274 "romance" incipit, explicit Squyr gl Lowe Degre: Titus and Vespasian: "story" ll. 1630, 5172 Troy Book: "book" Book 4, ll. 4636, 7092; Book 5, l. 3611; etc. "story" 1. 378 (prologue); Book 2, ll. 161, 177; etc. "work" I. 59 (prologue), etc. Turke and Gowin: "tale" 1. 330 208 80. Weddynge gl Sir Gawen and Dame Ragnell: "lif"? l. 1 "spell" l. 18 "tale" ll. 843, 849 81. William gl Palerne: "lesson" 11. 1923, 1929, 1944, 3528, etc. "matter" 1. 5032 "story" I. 4806 "tale" ll. 78, 161, 787, 1160 82. Ywain and Gawain: "book" rubric after 1. 2428 209 APPENDIX B GENERIC LABELS: CLASSIFIED BY DESCRIPTIVE WORD BOKE Amoryus and Cleopes: l. 1059 in 1st book, I. 1024 of prologue to 3rd book (Garrett Collection, Princeton University Library). Arthour and Merlin: l. 5647 (Auchinleck MS.). Generides: explicit: "the boke of Generides and of his faire lady Clarionas" (Trinity Camb 1283 MS.). I. 2550: "As ye may here in this boke see itt more pleinlie here after" (Helmingham MS.). Merlin: 11. 10081, 16865 (Corpus Christi Coll Camb 80 MS.). Partonope gl Blois: ll. 60, 64 (Addit 35288 MS.). Romauns gl_Partenay: ll. 20, 6415 (Trinity Camb 597 MS.). Ywain and Gawain: rubric after 1. 2428; "Her es be myddes of bis boke" (Cotton Galba E.9 MS.). DITE Romauns gl Partenay: l. 6413 (Trinity Camb 597 MS.). 10. 11. 12. 210 GESTE Alexander B: title: "The Gestes of Worthie King & Emperor" (Bodl 3832 MS.). Amis and Amiloun: 11. 157, 409, 1501, 1917, 2173 (Douce 326, Harley 2386, Auchinleck MSS.). Arthour and Merlin: l. 7618 (Auchinleck MS.). Bevis gB Hamgton: l. 3963 (Camb Univ Ff.2.38 MS.). Earl gl Toulous: l. 1219 (Thornton MS.). Generides: l. 23 (Helmingham MS.). . Guy gl Warwick: Stanza 35, l. 12; Stanza 44, l. 2 (Auchinleck MS.); 1. 11092 (Caius Camb 107 MS.). Guy and Colbrond: l. 633 (Percy Folio). Havelok: l. 2984 (Laud M13 108 MS.). Horn Child: l. 1120 (Auchinleck MS.). Jeaste gl Syr Gawayne: l. 537, explicit: "Here endeth the Jeaste of Syr Gawayne" (Douce 261 MS.). King g3 Tars: l. 774 (Auchinleck MS.). 13. 14. 15. 16. 17. 18. 19. 211 Lyfe gl Alisaunder: ll. 30, 2203 (Laud Misc 622, Lincoln's Inn 150 MSS.). Octavian (Southern): 1. 488 (Cotton Calig A.2 MS.). Partonope g: Blois: l. 458 (Addit 35288 MS.). Seege gB Troye: l. 980 (Arundel MS.). Siege gl Jerusalem: explicit (Lambeth 491, Cotton Calig A.2, Camb Univ Mm.5.14 MSS.). Sir Eglamour g: Artois: l. 1339 (Camb Univ 2.38 MS.). Sowdon gl_Babylon: l. 3274 (Addit 37492 MS.). HISTORY Generides: incipit, explicit (Helmingham MS.). . Romauns gl_Partenay: l. 194 (Trinity Camb 597 MS.). Sir Isumbras: incipit (Douce 261 MS.). LAY Earl g: Toulous: l. 1220 (Camb Univ Ff.2.38 MS.). 7. 212 Emare: l. 1030 (Cotton Calig A.2 MS.). . Lai lg Freine: ll. 14, 22 (Auchinleck MS.). Sir Gawain and the Green Knight: l. 30 (Cotton Nero A.1O MS.). Sir Launfal: l. 4 (Cotton Calig A.2 MS.). Sir Orfeo: l. 601 (Auchinleck MS.). MATTER Arthour and Merlin: l. 663 (Auchinleck MS.). Generides: l. 1993 (Helmingham MS.). Guy _£ Warwick: 1. 108 (Caius Camb 107 MS.). History g: the Holy Grail: Chap. 15, l. 2; Chap. 33. ll. Coll Camb 80 MS.). Ipomedon B: l. 1595 (Harley 2252 MS.). Joseph gl Arimathie: l. 364 (Bodl Poet A.1 MS.). Laud Troy Book: l. 168 (Laud 595 MS.). 541, 546 (Corpus Christi 10. 213 . Merlin: 11. 13619, 13627, 15178, 17159, 17263, 17322, etc. (Corpus Christi Coll Camb 80 MS.). Partonope gl Blois: II. 478, 2350 (Addit 35288 MS.). William gl Palerne: l. 5032 (King's Camb 13 MS.). PLAINT Emare: l. 1032 (Cotton Calig A.2 MS.). PROCESS Alexander 5: l. 171 (Greaves 60 MS.). Amoryus and Cleopes: ll. 155, 162, 1156, 1571, 1773 (Garrett Collection, Princeton University Library). Destruction gl Troy: ll. 11772, 14043 (Hunterian 388 MS., Univ. of Glasgow). Generides: l. 6990 (Trinity Camb 1283 MS.). Merlin: ll. 16709, 17321 (Corpus Christi Coll Camb 80 MS.). RIME Amis and Amiloun: l. 38 (Douce 236, Egerton 2862 MSS.). 214 Bevis gl Hampton: 11. 1216, 3963 (Auchinleck MS.). . Havelok: ll. 21, 23, 2995, 2998 (Laud Misc 108 MS.). . Ipomedon B: l. 5337 (Chetham 8009 MS.). . Lai le Freine: l. 14 (Auchinleck MS.). Otuel and Roland: I. 2187 (Addit 37492 MS.). ROMANCE Amis and Amiloun: l. 157 (Egerton 2862 MS.). Arthour and Merlin: 11. 31, 626, 7271, 8227, 8585, 9405, 9657 (Auchinleck MS.). Bevis gl Hamgton: l. 1216 (Douce frag., Camb Univ Ff.2.38, Royal Library of Naples MSS.); l. 1925 (Chetham 8009 MS.). Bone Florence g: Rome: 1. 2185 (Camb Univ Ff.2.38 MS.). Duke Roland and Sir Otuel gB Sgain: heading, explicit (Addit 31042 MS.). Earl gl Toulous: heading (Thornton MS.). . Guy gl Warwick: Stanza 1, l. 2 (Auchinleck MS.). 10. 11. 12. 13. 14. 15. 16. 17. 18. 19. 20. l. 5337 215 . Ipomedon B: (Chetham 8009 MS.). Laud Troy Book: 11. 18640, 18659 (Laud 595 MS.). Lyfe gl Alisaunder: l. 1916 (Laud Misc 622, Lincoln's Inn 150 MSS.). Octavian (Northern): heading (Thornton, Camb Univ Ff.2.38, Bagford Harley 5905 MSS.). l. 1811 Octavian (Southern): (Cotton Calig A.2 MS.). Partonope g2 Blois: I. 12195 (Addit 35288 MS.). Richard Coer gg Lyon: II. 202, 1947 (Addit 31042 MS.). Romauns gB Partenay: 11. 6417, 6418 (Trinity Camb 597 MS.). Sir Eglamour gl Artois: l. 1333 (Thornton MS.). Sir Gowther: l. 537 (Royal 17.B.43, Advocates 19.3.1 MSS.). Sir Isumbras: incipit (Thornton MS.). Sir Perceval g: Galles: incipit, explicit (Thornton MS.). Sir Torrent g: Portyngale: l. 2661 (Chetham 8009 MS.). 21. 216 Sowdon gl Babylon: title, explicit (Garrett 140 MS.). SAW Amis and Amiloun: l. 90 (Douce 326 MS.). Chevalere Assigne: l. 162 (Cotton Calig A.2 MS.). King gl_Tars: 11. 411, 1119 (Bodl 3938 MS.). Octavian (Northern): l. 7 (Thornton, Camb Univ Ff.2.38 MSS.). Otuel and Roland: l. 1161 (Addit 47492 MS.). Richard Coer gg Lyon: l. 5061 (Addit 31042 MS.). SONG Emare: l. 24 (Cotton Calig A.2 MS.). King Horn: ll. 2, 3, 1528 (Camb Univ Gg.4.27 MS.). SPELLE Bevis g3 Hamgton: l. 1484 (Auchinleck MS.). 2. 217 Guy g: Warwick: ll. 4794, 4819 (Auchinleck MS.). . Havelok: l. 15 (Laud Misc 108 MS.). 4. Laud Troy Book: I. 104 (Laud 595 MS.). 5. Merlin: l. 9464 (Corpus Christi Coll Camb 80 MS.). 9292822112913 4: l. 980 (Lincoln's Inn 150 MS.). . Weddynge g2 Sir Gawen and Dame Ragnell: l. 18 (Rawlinson C86 MS.). STORY Amoryus and Cleopes: ll. 51, 93, 106, 236, 725, 1594, etc. (Garrett Collec- tion, Princeton University Library). Bevis g: Hampton: l. 1142 (Auchinleck MS.). Emare: l. 1029 (Cotton Calig A.2 MS.). . Guy g: Warwick: 1. 8654 (Caius Camb 107 MS.). . Havelok: l. 1641 (Laud Misc 108 MS.). . History gl_the Holy Grail: Chap. 12, l. 336; Chap. 14, l. 48; Chap. 15, l. 468; Chap. 18, ll. 11, 18, 128, 135, etc. (Corpus Christi Coll Camb 80 MS.). 10. 11. 12. 13. 14. 15. 16. 17. 18. . King I. Laud 218 g3 Tars: 774 (Bodl 3938 MS.). Troy Book: 1. ll. 73 (Laud 595 MS.). . Merlin: 1831, 3108, 3477, 4179, 4637, 5641, 6256, etc. (Corpus Christi Coll Camb 80 MS.). Morte Arthure: ll. 25, 7019, 7785, 15603, etc. (Thornton MS.). Partonope g3 Blois: l. 2336 (Addit 35288 MS.). Siege gl Thebes: 11. 184, 874 Sir Gowther: l. 745 (Royal l7.B.43 MS.). Sir Isumbras: l. 137 (Thornton MS.). Sir Triamour: ll. 5, 11 (Thornton MS.). Titus and Vespasian: 1. Troy 5172 (Addit 31042 MS.). Book: 11. 112, 378 of prologue (Cotton Augustus A.4 MS.). William g: Palerne: l. 4806 (King's Camb 13 MS.). 10. 11. 12. 13. 219 TALE Alexander B: l. 45 (Greaves 60 MS.). Amis and Amiloun: l. 441 (Douce 326 MS.). Arthour and Merlin: ll. 29, 1707, 5076 (Auchinleck MS.); I. Inn 150 MS.). . Avowynge gB King Arthur: Stanza 62, l. 1 (Ireland Blackburn MS.). Bevis gl Hamgton: l. 1 (Auchinleck MS.). Chevalere Assigne: l. 93 (Cotton Calig A.2 MS.). Earl g: Toulous: l. 8 (Camb Univ Ff.2.38 MS.). Emare: l. 948 (Cotton Calig A.2 MS.). Grene Knight: ll. 282, Havelok: ll. 3, 5, Ipomedon B: incipit, Kigg Horn: 523 (Addit 27879 MS.). 12, 13 (Laud Misc 108 MS.). I. 1258 (Chetham 8009 MS.). I. 1525 (Laud Misc 108 MS.). King g: Tars: 11.411, 1119 (Bodl 3938 MS.). 1264 (Lincoln's 14. 15. 16. 17. 18. 19. 20. 21. 22. 23. 24. 25. 26. 220 Laud Troy Book: 11. 5, 7 (Laud 595 MS.). Libeaus Desconus: l. 4 (Addit 27879 MS.); 1. 1271 (Lambeth 306 MS.). Lyfe g: Alisaunder: l. 2048 (Laud Misc 622 MS.). Merlin: ll. 12, 869, 10522, 11789, etc. (Corpus Christ Coll Camb 80 MS.). Morte Arthure: l. 16 (Thornton MS.). Octavian (Northern): l. 2 (Camb Univ Ff.2.38 MS.). Octavian (Southern): 1. 427 (Cotton Calig A.2 MS.). Partonope g: Blois: ll. 4488, 10286 (Addit 35288 MS.). Richard Coer gg_Lyon: ll. 5099, 6723 (Addit 31042 MS.). Siege 93 Thebes: II. 180, 322, 1046, 1050, 2440, etc. Sir Gowther: l. 29 (Advocates 19.3.1 MS.); 1. 751 (Royal 17.B.43 MS.). Sir Launfal: ll. 23, 1039 (Cotton Calig A.2 MS.). Sir Torrent gB Portyngale: l. 1 (Chetham 8009 MS.). 27. 28. 29. 221 Turke and Gowin: l. 330 (Addit 27879 MS.). Weddynge gB Sir Gawen and Dame Ragnell: ll. 843, 849 (Bodl 11951 MS.). William gl Palerne: ll. 78, 161, 787, 1160, etc. (King's Camb 13 MS.). TREATISE . Knight gl Curtesy and the Fair Lady gl_Faguell: incipit, explicit, l. 504 (Bodl print). Libeaus Desconus: incipit (Lambeth 306 MS.). VITA Amis and Amiloun: explicit (Douce 326 MS.). Havelok: incipit (Laud Misc 108 MS.). . Joseph gl Arimathie: incipit (Bodl Poet A.1 MS.). Libeaus Desconus: l. 2205 (Ashmole 61 MS.) ["life"]. Richard Coer gg Lyon: incipit (Caius Camb 175 MS.). Sir Gowther: explicit (Royal 17.B.43 MS.). 222 . Weddynge g3 Sir Gawen and Dame Ragnell: l. 1 (Rawlinson C86 MS.) ["life"]. WORK Destruction gB Troy: l. 4 (Hunterian 388 MS., Univ. of Glasgow). . Romauns gl Partenay: l. 207 (Trinity Camb 597 MS.). Troy Book: ll. 59, 70 of prologue (Cotton Augustus A.4 MS.). 223 APPENDIX C FOUR VARIABLES OF COMPOSITION: CLASSIFIED BY DESCRIPTIVE WORD Length Rhyme Area Date BOKE 1. Amoryus and Cleopes: 2211 ll. rime royal Norfolk 1448-1449 2. Arthour and Merlin: 9938 ll. four-stress Kent 1250-1300 couplets 3. Generides: a) 6995 ll. rime royal Midlands late 13003 b) 10086 ll. couplets Midlands late 13003 4. Merlin: 27852 ll. rhyming South or 1425 couplets S Midlands 5. Partonope gl_Blois: 12195 ll. couplets South 14003 6. Romauns gl Partenay: 6615 ll. rime royal NE Midlands ca. 1500 7. Ywain and Gawain: four-stress North 1300-1350 couplets DITE 1. Romauns gB Partenay: 6615 ll. rime royal NE Midlands ca. 1500 10. 11. 224 GESTE Alexander B: 1247 ll. alliteration Amis and Amiloun: 2495 ll. tail-rhyme Arthour and Merlin: four-stress couplets 9938 ll. Bevis gl Hampton: 4620 ll. tail-rhyme & couplets Earl gB Toulous: 1224 ll. tail-rhyme Generides: 10086 ll. couplets Guy gl Warwick: 12000 ll. octosyllabic couplets & tail-rhyme Guy and Colbrond: 633 ll. tail-rhyme Havelok: 3001 ll. four-stress couplets Horn Child: 1136 ll. tail-rhyme Jeaste gl_Syr Gawayge: 541 ll. tail-rhyme Gloucestershire E Midlands Kent Southampton NE Midlands Midlands Warwickshire NE Midlands Yorkshire South or S Midlands 1340-1370 late 12003 1250-1300 ca. 1300 ca. 1400 late 13003 ca. 1300 1280-1300 ca. 1320 1450-1500 12. 13. 14. 15. 16. 17. 18. 19. 225 King of Tars: 1122- 1228 ll. tail-rhyme Lyfe gl Alisaunder: 8021 ll. four-stress couplets Octavian: 1962 ll. tail-rhyme Partonope g2 Blois: 7096- 12195 11. couplets Seege gl Troye: 2066 ll. four-stress couplets Siege gl Jerusalem: 1334 ll. alliterative quatrains Sir Bglamour gl_Artois: HISTORY 1335 ll. tail-rhyme Sowdon gl Babylon: 1842 ll. six-stress couplets Generides: 10086 11. couplets . Romauns gl Partenay: 6615 ll. rime royal Sir Isumbras: 372 ll. tail-rhyme London London Southeast South NW Midlands NW Midlands North or N Midlands E Midlands Midlands NE Midlands E Midlands early 13003 early 13003 ca. 1350 14003 1300-1325 1390-1400 ca. 1350 1375-1400 late 13003 ca. 1500 early 13003 226 LAY 1. Earl g3 Toulous: 1224 ll. tail-rhyme NE Midlands ca. 1400 2. Emare: 1035 ll. tail-rhyme Northeast ca. 1400 3. Lai lg Freine: 340 ll. short Southeast (or early 13003 couplets possibly Westminster- Middlesex) 4. Sir Gawain and the Green Knight: 2530 ll. alliteration NW Midlands 1375-1400 5. Sir Launfal: 1044 ll. tail-rhyme Southeast late 13003 6. Sir Orfeo: 602 ll. four-stress Southeast early 13003 couplets MATTER 1. Arthour and Merlin: 9938 ll. four-stress Kent 1250—1300 couplets 2. Generides: 10086 11. couplets Midlands late 13003 3. Guy gB Warwick: 12000 ll. octosyllabic Warwickshire ca. 1300 couplets & tail-rhyme 4. History gl_the Holy Grail: 11892 11. short South or ca. 1450 couplets S Midlands 227 5. Ipomedon B: 2346 ll. four-stress E Midlands couplets 6. Joseph g: Arimathie: 709 ll. alliteration W or SW Midlands 7. Laud Troy Book: 18644 ll. four-stress E Midlands couplets 8. Merlin: 27852 ll. short South couplets 9. Partonope 2:.BLEL2‘ 12195 couplets South or S Midlands 10. William g3 Palerne: 5540 ll. alliteration Gloucestershire (SW Midlands) PLAINT l. nggg: 1035 ll. tail—rhyme Northeast PROCESS 1. Alexander B: 1247 ll. alliteration Gloucestershire 2. Amoryus and Cleopes: 2211 ll. rime royal Norfolk 3. Destruction gl lggy: 14044 11. alliteration NW Midlands before 1425 mid 13003 ca. 1400 14003 ca. 1425 1350-1360 ca. 1400 1340-70 1448-1449 1350-1400 2. 228 Generides: 6995 ll. rime royal . Merlin: 27852 ll. couplets RIME Amis and Amiloun: 2495 ll. tail-rhyme Bevis gl_Hampton: 4620 ll. tail-rhyme & couplets . Havelok: ROMANCE 3001 ll. four-stress couplets . Ipomedon B: 8890 ll. tail-rhyme Lgl lg Freine: 340 ll. short couplets Otuel and Roland: 2800 ll. tail-rhyme Amis and Amiloun: 2495 ll. tail-rhyme Arthour and Merlin: 9938 ll. four-stress couplets Midlands South or S Midlands E Midlands Southampton NE Midlands N Midlands- Lancashire Southeast E Midlands E Midlands Kent late 13003 ca. 1425 late 12003 ca. 1300 1280-1300 late 13008 early 13003 1330-1340 late 12003 1250-1300 229 3. Bevis gB Hampton: 4620 ll. tail-rhyme Southampton ca. 1300 & couplets 4. Bone Florence gl_Rome: 2187 ll. tail-rhyme N Midlands late 13003 5. Duke Roland and Sir Otuel g£_Sgain: 1596 ll. tail-rhyme North ca. 1300 6. Earl gl Toulous: 1224 ll. tail-rhyme NE Midlands ca. 1400 7. Guy gl Warwick: 12000 11. octosyllabic Warwickshire ca. 1300 couplets & tail-rhyme 8. Ipomedon B: 8890 ll. tail-rhyme N Midlands- late 13003 Lancashire 9. Laud Troy Book: 18644 11. four-stress E Midlands ca. 1400 couplets 10. Lyfe gl_Alisaunder: 8021 ll. four-stress Gloucestershire 1340-1370 couplets 11. Octavian: 1629- tail-rhyme North ca. 1350 1731 ll. 12. Octavian: 1962 ll. tail-rhyme Southeast ca. 1350 13. Partonope gl_Blois: 12195 11. couplets South 14003 14. Richard Coer gg Lyon: 6380 ll. couplets mixed Midlands 0a. 1300 (London area) 230 15. Romauns g: Partenay: 6615 ll. rime royal 16. Sir Eglamour gl Artois: 1335 ll. tail-rhyme 17. Sir Gowther: 757 ll. tail-rhyme 18. Sir Isumbras: 794 ll. tail-rhyme 19. Sir Perceval gl Galles: 2286 ll. tail-rhyme 20. Sir Torrent gl Portyngale: 2668 ll. tail-rhyme 21. Sowdon gB Babylon: 3274 ll. four-stress couplets SAW 1. Amis and Amiloun: 2495 ll. tail-rhyme 2. Chevalere Assigne: 370 ll. alliteration Bewasilaiy 1122— tail-rhyme 1228 ll. 4. Octavian: 1629- tail-rhyme 1731 11. NE Midlands North or N Midlands NE Midlands E Midlands North E Midlands E Midlands E Midlands E Midlands London North ca. 1500 ca. 1350 ca. 1400 early 13003 1300-1340 ca. 1400 ca. 1400 late 12003 1350-1400 early 13003 ca. 1350 5. 231 Otuel and Roland: 2800 ll. 6. Richard Coer gg Lyon: 2. 6380 ll. Emare: 1035 ll. King Horn: 1530 ll. Bevis gl Hampton: 4620 ll. tail-rhyme E Midlands four-stress mixed Midlands couplets (London area) SONG tail-rhyme Northeast couplets Southwest or S Midlands SPELLE tail-rhyme Southampton & couplets Guy g: Warwick: 12000 11. Havelok: 3001 ll. octosyllabic Warwickshire couplets & tail-rhyme four-stress NE Midlands couplets Laud Troy Book: 18644 11. Merlin: 27852 11. four-stress E Midlands couplets couplets South or S Midlands ca. ca. 08.. Ca. ca. ca. 1330 1300 1400 1225 1300 1300 1280-1300 08.. 1425 1400 232 . Seege _£ Troye: 2066 ll. four-stress NW Midlands couplets Weddynge g3 Sir Gawen and Dame Ragnell: 852 ll. tail-rhyme E Midlands STORY Amoryus and Cleopes: 2211 ll. rime royal Norfolk Bgylg g: Hampton: 4620 ll. tail-rhyme Southampton & couplets liners: 1035 ll. tail-rhyme Northeast Bgy gl Warwick: 12000 11. octosyllabic Warwickshire couplets & tail-rhyme Havelok: 3001 ll. four-stress NE Midlands couplets History gl the Holy Grail: 11892 11. rhymed South or couplets S Midlands King gB Tars: 1122- tail-rhyme London 1288 ll. Laud Troy Book: 18644 ll. four-stress E Midlands couplets 1300-1325 ca. 1450 1448-1449 ca. 1300 ca. 1400 ca. 1300 1280-1300 ca. 1450 early 13003 c. 1400 233 9. Merlin: 27852 ll. rhymed couplets 10. Morte Arthure: 4346 ll. alliteration 11. Partonope gB Blglg: 12195 11. couplets 12. Blggg_gl Thebes: 4716 ll. heroic couplets 13. Sir Gowther: 757 ll. tail-rhyme 14. Sir Isumbras: 794 ll. tail—rhyme 15. Sir Triamour: 1719 ll. tail-rhyme 16. Titus and Vespasian: 5172 ll. octosyllabic couplets 17. Troy Book: 30110 ll. couplets 18. William g: Palerne: TALE 5540 ll. alliteration Alexander B: 1247 ll. alliteration South or S Midlands NW Midlands South London NE Midlands E Midlands North or NE Midlands London E Midlands Gloucestershire (SW Midlands) Gloucestershire ca. 1425 ca. 1360 14003 1420-1422 ca. 1400 early 13003 late 13003 ca. 1390 1410 1350-1360 1340-1370 10. 11. 12. 13. 234 Amis and Amiloun: 2495 ll. tail-rhyme Arthour and Merlin: 9938 ll. 1152 ll. four-stress couplets . Avowynge gB King Arthur: tail-rhyme Bevis gB Hampton: 4620 ll. tail-rhyme & couplets Chevalere Assigne: 370 ll. alliteration Earl g: Toulous: 1224 ll. Emare: 1035 ll. Grene Knight: 528 ll. Havelok: 3001 ll. Ipomedon B: 8890 11. King Horn: 1546 ll. King g£_Tars: 1122- 1228 ll. tail-rhyme tail-rhyme tail-rhyme four-stress couplets tail-rhyme couplets tail-rhyme E Midlands Kent North Southampton E Midlands NE Midlands Northeast S Midlands NE Midlands N Midlands- Lancashire Southwest or S Midlands London late 12003 1250-1300 ca. 1425 ca. 1300 1350-1400 ca. 1400 1400 O 9; ca. 1500 1280-1300 late 13003 ca. 1225 early 13003 14. 15. 16. 17. 18. 19. 20. 21. 22. 23. 24. 25. 235 Laud Troy Book: 18644 ll. four-stress couplets Libeaus Desconus: 2131- 2204 ll. tail-rhyme Lyfe gl Alisaunder: 8021 ll. couplets Merlin: 27852 ll. rhymed couplets Morte Arthure: 4346 ll. alliteration Octavian: 1731 ll. tail-rhyme Octavian: 1962 ll. tail-rhyme Partonope gB Blois: 12195 ll. couplets Richard Coer gg_Lyon: four-stress couplets 7212 ll. Siege g: Thebes: 4716 ll. heroic couplets Sir Gowther: 757 ll. tail-rhyme Sir Launfal: 1044 ll. tail-rhyme E Midlands South Southwest or S Midlands South or S Midlands NW Midlands North Southeast South mixed Midlands (London area) London NE Midlands Southeast ca. 1400 1325-1350 ca. 1225 ca. 1425 ca. 1360 ca. 1350 ca. 1350 14003 ca. 1300 1420-1422 ca. 1400 late 13003 26. 27. 28. 29. 236 Sir Torrent gl Portyngale: 2668 ll. tail-rhyme Turke and Gowin: 335 ll. tail-rhyme E Midlands North or NW Midlands Weddynge gl Sir Gawen and Dame Ragnell: 852 ll. tail-rhyme William g3 Palerne: 5540 ll. alliteration E Midlands Gloucestershire TREATISE Knight gl Curtegy and the Fair Lady g: Faguell: VITA 504 ll. four-stress couplets Libeaus Desconus: 2204 ll. tail-rhyme Amis and Amiloun: 2495 ll. tail-rhyme . Havelok: 3001 ll. four—stress couplets . Josegh gl Arimathie: 709 ll. alliteration Libeaus Desconus: 2232 ll. tail-rhyme London South E Midlands NE Midlands West or SW Midlands South ca. 1400 ca. 1500 ca. 1450 1350-1360 late 13003 1325-1350 late 12003 1280-1300 mid 1300s 1325-1350 5. 6. 237 Richard Coer gg Lyon: 6380 ll. couplets mixed Midlands (London area) Sir Gowther: 757 ll. tail-rhyme NE Midlands 7. Weddynge gB Sir Gawen and Dame Ragnell: 1. 2. 3. 852 ll. tail-rhyme E Midlands WORK Destruction g: Troy: 14044 11. alliteration NW Midlands Romauns gl Partenay: 6615 ll. rime royal NE Midlands Troy Book: 30110 ll. couplets E Midlands ca. 1300 ca. 1400 ca. 1450 1350-1400 ca. 1500 1410 BIBLIOGRAPHY BIBLIOGRAPHY A. TEXTS Alexander B. In The Gestes g: the Worthie King and Emgeror Alisaunder gl Macedonie. Ed. W. W. Skeat. EETSES 1. London: Kegan Paul, Trench, Trflbner, 1894. Alexander B. In Alexander and Dindimus. Ed. W. W. Skeat. EETSES 31. London: N. Trfibner, 1867. Alexander B. In The Wars gl Alexander. Ed. W. W. Skeat. 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Hale. New York: Prentice-Hall, 1930. Eger and Grime. In Middle English Metrical Romances. Ed. W. H. French and C. B. Hale. New York: Prentice-Hall, 1930. Emare. In Romance of Emare. Ed. E. Rickert. EETSES 99. London: N. Trflbner, 1908. Fillingham Firumbras. In Firumbras and Otuel and Roland. Ed. M. I. O'Sullivan. EETSOS 198. London: Oxford Univ. Press, 1935. Floris and Blancheflur. In Floriz and Blancheflur. Ed. G. H. McKnight. EETSOS 14. London: Kegan Paul, Trench, Trflbner, 1901. Gamelyn. In Middle English Metrical Romances. Ed. W. H. French and C. B. Hale. New York: Prentice-Hall,1930. Royal Historie of the Ex- d. F. J. Furnivall. London: Generides (Helmingham MS.). In cellent Knight Generides. Roxburghe Club, 1863. A E Generides (Trinity College MS.). In Generydes. Ed. W. A. Wright. EETSOS 55, 70.‘ London: N. Trflbner, 1878. 240 Grene Knight. In Syr Gawayne. Ed. Frederic Madden. London, 1839; rpt. New York: AMS Press, 1971. Guy and Colbrond. In Bishop Percy's Folio Manuscript: Bal- lads and Romances. Ed. Frederick J. Furnivall and John W. Hales. Vol. II. London: N. Trflbner, 1868. Guy 5; Warwick. Ed. J. Zupitza. EETSES 25, 26, £42, L19, 59. London: N. TrUbner, 1875-1891. Havelok. In The Lay oi Havelok the Dane. Ed. W. W. Skeat. EETSES U. London: Kegan Paul, Trench, Trflbner, 1869. Histor 9£_the Holy Grail. Ed. F. J. Furnivall. EETSES 20, 2E, 28, 30. London: N. Trflbner, 187H-1877. Horn Child. In Horn Childe and Maiden Rimnild. Ed. J. Caro. Englische Studien, 12 (1889), 351-66. Ipomedon A. In Hue 93 Rotelande's Ipomedon lg_drei eng- lischen Bearbeitungen. Ed. E. K81bing. Breslau: Wil- liam Koebner, 1889. Ipomedon B. In Hue 93 Rotelande's Ipomedon in drei eng- lischen Bearbeitungen. Ed. E. K81bing. Breslau: Wil- liam Koebner, 1889. Jeaste 9: Syr Gawayne. In Syr Gawayne. Ed. Frederic Madden, London, 1839; rpt. New York: AMS Press, 1971. Joseph 2: Arimathie. Ed. W. W. Skeat. EETSOS uu. London: N. Trflbner, 1871. King Horn. Ed. G. H. McKnight. EETSOS 1“. London: Kegan Paul, Trench, Trflbner, 1901. King oi Tars. Ed. F. Krause. Englische Studien, 12 (1888), 1-63. Knight oi Curtesy and the Fair Lady oi Faguell. Ed. Eliza- beth McCausland. Smith College Studies in Modern Lan- guages, u, No. 1 (1922), vii-32. Lai lg Freine. Ed. M. Wattie. Smith College Studies in Modern Languages, 10, No. 3 (1929), 1-27. Laud Troy Book. Ed. J. E. Wulfing. EETSOS 121, 122. Lon- don: Kegan Paul, Trench, TrUbner, 1902. Libeaus Desconus. Ed. M. Mills. EETSOS 261. London: Oxford Univ. Press, 1969. Lyfe g: Alisaunder. In Kyng Alisaunder. Ed. G. V. Smithers. EETSOS 227, 237. London: Oxford Univ. Press, 1952, 241 1957. Merlin. Ed. E. K. Kock. EETSES 93, 112. London: N. Trflb- ner, 190A, 1913. EETSOS 185. London: Oxford Univ. Press, 1932. Morte Arthur. Ed. J. D. Bruce. EETSES 88. London: Kegan Paul, Trench, TrUbner, 1903. Morte Arthure. Ed. E. Brock. EETSOS 8. London: Kegan Paul, Trench, Trflbner, 1903. Also Ed. John Finlayson. Lon- don: Edward Arnold, 1967. Octavian (Northern). Ed. G. Sarrazin. Altenglische Biblio- thek, 3. Heilbronn: Gebr. Henninger, 1885. Octavian (Southern). In Octavian Imperator. Ed. Frances McSparren. Heidelberg: Carl Winter Universitatsverlag, 1979. Otuel a Knight. In Romance 9£_0tuel. Ed. S. J. Herrtage. EETSES 39. London: N. Trfibner, 1882. Otuel and Roland. Ed. M. I. O'Sullivan. EETSOS 198. Lon- don: Oxford Univ. Press, 1935. Partonope oi Blois. Ed. A. T. Bodtker. EETSES 109. London: N. Trflbner, 1911. Reinbrun, Son g£ Gij. In Reinbrun. Ed. J. Zupitza. EETSES M2, M9, 59. London: N. TrUbner, 1883-1891. Richard Coer de Lyon. In Der mittelenglische Versroman Uber Richard Lowenherz. Ed. Karl Brunner. Wiener Beitrage zur Englischen Philologie, H2. Wien und Leipzig: Wil- helm Braumflller, 1913. Roberd o: Cisyle. In Middle English Metrical Romances. Ed. W. H. French and C. B. Hale. New York: Prentice-Hall, 1930. Roland and Vernagu. Ed. S. J. Herrtage. EETSES 39. London: N. Trdbner, 1882. Romans pg Partenay. Ed. W. W. Skeat. EETSOS 22. London: Kegan Paul, Trench, Trflbner, 1866. Seege oi Troye. In The Seege pg Batayle g: Troye. Ed. M. E. Barnicle. EETSOS 172. London: Oxford Univ. Press, 1927. Sege of Melayne. Ed. S. J. Herrtage. EETSES 35. London: N. Trfibner, 1880. 2H2 Siege 9: Jerusalem. Ed. E. Kdlbing and M. Day. EETSOS 188. London: Oxford Univ. Press, 1932. Siege of Thebes. Ed. A. Erdmann and E. Ekway. EETSES 108, 125. London: Oxford Univ. Press, 1911, 1930. Sir Amadace. In Three Early English Metrical Romances. Ed. J. Robson. London: J. B. Nichols, 18H2. Sir Cleges. In Middle English Metrical Romances. Ed. W. H. French and C. B. Hale. New York: Prentice—Hall, 1930. Sir Degare. In Sire Degarre. Ed. G. Schleich. Englische Textbibliothek, 19. Heidelberg: Carl Winter's Universi- tatsbuchhandlung, 1929. Sir Degrevant. Ed. L. F. Casson. EETSOS 221. London: Ox— ford Univ. Press, 19M9. Sir Eglamour gfi Artois. Ed. G. Schleich. Palaestra 53. Berlin: Mayer & MUller, 1906. 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